Does anyone else feel like they have no purpose in life?

Some of the joy I have is my life is nothing. I don't mean boo hoo, or I have low self esteem, I think there is something very freeing about being just a speck in the over all. In ways you think about how little and much power you have.

A lot of people whom I thought cared about me tried to give my life a meaning, the ones they wanted. I'm very happy to exist, I think I do good in the world and try to help those I care about. But at the same time, my family and friends will all die as will I. So why? Because it makes me happy and it just doesn't matter so why not take joy in.

To be quite honest, there's a nerve firing telling me to do something. I don't want to get into it all or my entire life here, but I have to ignore it for a lot of reasons. At times it saddens me but the right choice isn't the easy one.

I've said it many times, I love to learn and nature. A time soon, I'll pack my shit up buy a ranch and some land and just go off the grid. I could spend my life helping doing more etc. I've done a lot. I've earned in my own heart the right to be a hermit. I'll be happy. Really what kind of life or use is someone who just hikes around and tends his land? Not much really. I don't feel guilty and won't allow people to bully me into giving more and my happiness up to help.

My life being meaningless helps me sleep at night as odd as it sounds.

I'm probably not much helping the OP here as I never have found or felt a need to have a use. I'm a very driven person and wanted to do some things in my life but I don't much care for the prestige of it. It's really how we look at life, if you want to find a drive or meaning and are struggling, I highly suggest try shit. Anything. There are so many causes, groups, sports etc. If you are feeling aimless just keep trying stuff, something will strike you. Then you may directly or indirectly find a meaning, cause and passion.
 
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Purpose and meaning have different definitions depending on who you're asking, but yeah, I generally feel a gaping absence of purpose in my waking life. It's an endless pit that my job, friends, love-life, hobbies and family don't fill and I think most people feel the same, they might not wanna admit, though secretly here and there yes they do. It's not a question of hey, do I matter, or even, oh my god I'm meant for a greatness that I'm not fulfilling, but a real shortage of reward for living an everyday life, paired with the subconcious anticipation of death, and it gets translated in a way where one asks themselves "what's my purpose?"

I had a friend who was very suicidal one night long ago who I went to see and they explained it better than I can. He said everything in life is filler. He held out his hand to the things in his house, the TV, the photos, his artwork, the decoractions, his phone, the video games, books, bed, whatever, all of it, and said this is all filler, for me, waiting to die. That's it. You may be a heart surgeon or an author, maybe a CEO or a famous singer, rich or poor, but your life and everything around you is filler, for you, picked out by and for you based on your preferences, to suspend the mind from contemplating the very real race against the impending reality of death, or essentially, no longer being able to have purpose because you're gone. I can't paraphrase all of it but basically purpose is made up. It's as real as you make it. It's a mental thing. You can be popular and rich as hell yet feel no meaning, or work a minimum wage job and feel you're presence is required somehow, at the end of the day if you want purpose you have to believe that it exists.

It's dark but it's kind of positive at the same time. Purpose really is something you have to choose to believe in because nobody else can give it to you, and it can be momentary it doesn't have to be continuous. I can't argue what my friend said because it was darkly honest in a way I agree with but perhaps my purpose, in the moment, was going over there and hanging out and talking. If you want a real answer, purpose and meaning are not defined in any one way. It's how you choose to look at it, and if it it's difficult to see the meaning or purpose in life, challenge your idea of what they mean.
 
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Meh a feeling of emptiness and uselessness are strong feels people deal with everyday. Life may not have meaning but I just like to think, just like the tiny ass molecules in your eye, we tiny specks of humans on this tiny ass speck of a planet in this tiny ass galaxy are doing something keeping something functioning. I guess anyway. Also laughing at lolcows and shitposting help fill that void so there you go
 
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My purpose in life is to get right with God - I am looking for Jesus, and I won't stop until I meet Him face-to-face or I die. That will make me either the biggest fool who has ever lived, or I will get what I want. Either way, I'm not hurting anyone, and, whether I am right or wrong, the days of my life are going to tick away anyway. Why not? It's as good a purpose as any I can think of. If I am a fool, I guess this makes me a fool with a purpose.
 
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Sure Thing Idiot said:
Purpose and meaning have different definitions depending on who you're asking, but yeah, I generally feel a gaping absence of purpose in my waking life. It's an endless pit that my job, friends, love-life, hobbies and family don't fill and I think most people feel the same, they might not wanna admit, though secretly here and there yes they do. It's not a question of hey, do I matter, or even, oh my god I'm meant for a greatness that I'm not fulfilling, but a real shortage of reward for living an everyday life, paired with the subconcious anticipation of death, and it gets translated in a way where one asks themselves "what's my purpose?"

I had a friend who was very suicidal one night long ago who I went to see and they explained it better than I can. He said everything in life is filler. He held out his hand to the things in his house, the TV, the photos, his artwork, the decoractions, his phone, the video games, books, bed, whatever, all of it, and said this is all filler, for me, waiting to die. That's it. You may be a heart surgeon or an author, maybe a CEO or a famous singer, rich or poor, but your life and everything around you is filler, for you, picked out by and for you based on your preferences, to suspend the mind from contemplating the very real race against the impending reality of death, or essentially, no longer being able to have purpose because you're gone. I can't paraphrase all of it but basically purpose is made up. It's as real as you make it. It's a mental thing. You can be popular and rich as hell yet feel no meaning, or work a minimum wage job and feel you're presence is required somehow, at the end of the day if you want purpose you have to believe that it exists.

It's dark but it's kind of positive at the same time. Purpose really is something you have to choose to believe in because nobody else can give it to you, and it can be momentary it doesn't have to be continuous. I can't argue what my friend said because it was darkly honest in a way I agree with but perhaps my purpose, in the moment, was going over there and hanging out and talking. If you want a real answer, purpose and meaning are not defined in any one way. It's how you choose to look at it, and if it it's difficult to see the meaning or purpose in life, challenge your idea of what they mean.
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Well, that's the point. Life has no meaning intrinsically, you have to create meaning through the completion of small goals that serve a purpose you want to achieve (say, moving to another country so your lifestyle and possibilities are enhanced.). Then you move a bit the goalposts, or establish new ones for the sake of challenging yourself or reaching the best "yourself" you can think about. We have some filler tasks like playing videogames, watching TV shows, etc. so we don't overthink about the goal and make it an unhealthy obsession; or to learn skills that help the goal, like socializing or collaborating.

The problem comes when you give in to nihilism and hopelessness. It gives foot to depression and suicide. It stops you from defining your potential into a specialization. And it's pretty common issue right now. See all these new college students that get into degrees that have no purpose but give a degree (Woman's Studies, for example); how happy or how goal oriented are they; how much they accomplish with their "revolts" and "riots". They are just empty shells at the mercy of the circumstances.
 
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Do the hip French college kid thing and read some Sartre, then see what you come up with. Make meaning in your life or try your best to not think about anything like this or you'll end up shaving off your face with a belt sander out of despair.
 
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I'll only really feel that way when I enter depressive phases, which always end. It helps to strengthen my will, as each time I go in, I get a little better at coming out. When you've seen both sides enough times, you start to get what really is, so I can recall that I have a purpose enough to overcome. One step back, two forward.
 
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I think ambition and drive are near the most important things in life. Some of the stupidest people alive are super successful and snorting coke of naked hookers right now because of that. Their success gave them options, gave them opportunities to find what made them happy. While some 150 IQ guy in his moms basement, who has no drive or ambition will die in that same basement... probably tomorrow.
 
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I don't really feel like I have no purpose in life, but sometimes I worry that who I am is just wrong, or that the world doesn't want what I have to offer. Sometimes I'm worried that the world is moving in a direction that I'm not, sometimes I'm worried that the things I want aren't what I'm supposed to want. I think that's why I like Kiwi Farms. Maybe I'm idealizing the site a little but sometimes it feels like Kiwi's this underground group of rebels that thinks for itself and doesn't tip-toe around people's feelings. Only time will tell if we're on the right side of history, but I for one want the future to be a little more like Kiwi Farms.
 
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