Just to clarify for everyone, I've lost interest in going out of my way to improve if it isn't fun. I'd rather sink to whatever ELO level I am most comfortable playing in as is, than stress myself out by trying to be better than I intrinsically am.
Then it's easy - play casually at your current strength and no need to bother about improvement, studying or rating, as long as you enjoy playing. When you get bored of chess, play something else. Nothing wrong with that.
what?
If it makes you feel any better, I started playing nearly 11 years ago, and my OTB rating is only 70 points higher than it was after my very first rated tournament. I do my best not to worry about ratings (obviously), but it is a little easier for me because I don't care as much for playing (which is probably a large part of why I have not improved) and am more addicted to the technical problem-solving aspects of chess (tactics, endgames). No doubt I have learned a lot. Just remember that ratings, especially at lower levels, are often more about how consistently you don't make mistakes, more than about what you have learned or what you are capable of doing at your peak. I have seen players separated by 900 points in playing strength with the same tactics ratings. You can make 10 consecutive 1500 level moves and then a single 900-level move and you are lost, whereas your opponent makes 10 consecutive 1200-level moves and wins. You can't take it too personally, keep working on your weaknesses, enjoy looking back on what you know now compared to when you started. For me, chess was this mysterious game of raw intelligence where only people with the magical birthright of seeing 50 moves ahead could win, but now, I am capable of naming 70-80% of the things I miss in problems and games!
:clap
Update: I hope no one minds that I revived this thread. I just wanted to provide an update to any interested parties: Despite my most pessimistic predictions, my ratings have not sunk to the 500s on Rapid. They only sunk to the mid/high 700s, which much better than what I was expecting. My last two games ended with my resigning in fear, but hey, I am not trying to improve, and the two games before that ended in my opponents rage-abandoning their games, so I must have retained at least some things you guys all taught me! I think I can keep this casual, no-improvement-no-problem tempo up and still have fun, so thanks everyone who encouraged me to give chess a second try! ^__^
It doesnt matter if you are bad at chess, anyone can enjoy chess, I have seen guys that only has 1200 that enjoy chess way more than people who has 2000, chess is to enjoy, so enjoy!