altschmerz – n. a sense of weariness with the same old problems that you’ve always had, the same boring issues and anxieties you’ve been gnawing on for decades, which makes you want to spit them out and dig up some fresher pain you might have buried in your mental backyard.
Many of us deal with problems over and over in our lives. Sometimes we just don’t have the energy or power to change them. Sometime we don’t know what to do with them.
Over time, this can wear you down. For me, I have all sorts of problems, fortunately overshadowed by the amazing things I experience.
As an example, I struggle with anxiety when starting some projects. Not all, but there are some that I don’t complete well enough, or need repeated repairing, and I get challenged to find a new approach or even re-repair something. Sometimes these are things I’ve delayed fixing, sometimes they’re maintenance that creeps up again, sometimes a thing broke. I get anxious and feel challenged, I worry I don’t do well, I don’t want to start and get stuck or stop.
Rebuilding trailer hubs is one of those things. I can’t decide if maybe the trailer is bent too much, but these keep happening and I wish they didn’t.
I certainly have other problems, but relatively few. I deal with altschmerz well some days, and not well others.
From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows