Girl's Behavior 
Guy's Behavior 
Flirting 
Dating 
Relationships 
Fashion & Beauty 
Health & Fitness 
Marriage & Weddings 
Shopping & Gifts 
Technology & Internet 
Break Up & Divorce 
Education & Career 
Entertainment & Arts 
Family & Friends 
Food & Beverage 
Hobbies & Leisure 
Other 
Religion & Spirituality 
Society & Politics 
Sports 
Travel 
Trending & News 
I've tried pretty much everything life has to offer. At one point, personal growth was my life's motto. Degrees, documentaries, foreign languages, music production, coding, software development, and countless other interests.
Nowadays, no matter what I do, whether it's traveling, exploring new places, spending time in nature, eating healthy, or working out, everything eventually feels meaningless and pointless by the end of the day.
Death is constantly on my mind, and life really is so short. Being trapped in a ruthless system while knowing that, in the end, everything seems to serve no real purpose is an incredibly difficult feeling to live with. I've never been able to escape it.
I'm 34 now, yet I can barely comprehend how the last 10 years have passed. I still feel like I'm stuck at 24. The last seven years, in particular, have been incredibly difficult, both in my personal life and in the world around me. I haven't truly felt happy again since childhood.
Alcohol, cigarettes, antidepressants... none of them has ever been a real answer to what I'm feeling.
How do you cope with this feeling? Have any of you managed to overcome it?
What Girls & Guys Said
Opinion
7Opinion
It sounds like what you are saying is this all there is to life, and then it's over before you know it.
When I was younger and raising my son and working, I still had some hope of falling in love again and getting married again - so I was hanging on to hope. That didn't happen though. Yes, I got married again 10 years after my divorce, but he was just too hard to get along with, smoked pot 3 times a day, and had no sense of humor or personality. The biggest mistake I ever made was marrying a guy like that!
I finally met the love of my life and we had a relationship for 6 years. Then he died suddenly 3 years ago. And here I am alone. And he was younger than me.
I feel like I'm feeling like you are at this point and time in my life and it's wrong to believe that finding love isn't going to change that feeling.
I'm getting to feel like it's all pointless and can't wait to get to heaven and be with God.
I don't know if you believe in God, but it He someone who has promised a better life in heaven.
Sure. I look at it like this. This is likely all we are ever going to have as far as we know. An afterlife is 99.9999% probability total bullshit borne of fear. Why waste a millisecond of a rare gift like life as a sentient self aware consciousness? Keep learning. Keep experiencing all you can experience.
We reached the point where we can record the collective knowledge of the human race long ago in written records. Now that knowledge is available to almost everyone everywhere at near zero cost. How the fuck are you bored? Delve into where we came from and how we got here and where we are headed. Sit in front of the metaphorical mirror and think about how you got to be who you are and where you want to go next. Ever ski? Go do it. Ever climb a mountain and scare the shit out of yourself? Go do it. Ever just walk up to a gorgeous woman and start talking to her? Go do it. Get out of your pity party and use the gift you've been given. Or waste the gift and die full of regrets. That's your choice.
Please don't give up on yourself. ❤️ I know it can be painful to look back and feel like so many years have passed without the happiness you hoped for, but 34 is not too old to start feeling alive again. You haven't missed your chance at a good life, and your hardest years don't have to define the years ahead of you. Sometimes healing takes longer than we expect, especially when we've been carrying pain for so long. You don't have to fix everything at once. Start with small things, be gentle with yourself, and don't be afraid to reach out for support beyond medication if you still feel this way. You deserve to experience joy again, not just survive one day after another. I truly hope you give yourself the chance to discover that life can still surprise you in beautiful ways. Please remember that the person you are today is still worthy of love, peace, and happiness. 🫂
I never trusted this idea of personal growth.
When I stumbled upon this concept, it felt like a US imported trope to me. A motto made to turn people into their own factory, in order to make them produce and consume the most goods & services to the best capacity possible.
I tried my best to not become a machine, but it hasn't been easy, I received a lot of help and inspiration from people, dead and alive, who somewhat refused that deal as well.
Just live your life how you want to, as long as you’re not hurting anybody or yourself. The point of life is just to live it. Just do your thing, whatever that is. Nobody really has a purpose, that’s a delusion of grandeur. They are just doing what they want or need to do.
Fix any chronic pain, physical disease if you have one. You'll be surprised how much the forgotten forgettable discomfort affects your mind.
Then use your brain - in a sissy way. I mean no matter how smart you are, your brain is meant to produce oxytocin, not just good ideas.
How did you know about my chronic pain?
Strange, the first time i wrote suggesting anyone to fix "chronic pain" in all 4.5 years I've been here. I don't think anything you wrote reveals it.
Do you ever try to understand what's meaningful to you, what makes life meaningful to you? Or do you just keep working on yourself and experiencing different things until you accidentally find something that makes you happy?
I dont feel any kind of despair, it's just an acknowledgement that there isn't any inherent meaning to us. We just ascribe meanings. Thats it
Knowing that we just ascribe meanings, feels so fake about life and everything.
Thats because it is. Life has no meaning until you ascribe a meaning to it, the very essence of existentialism.
I'm on the same road as you and it's not a pretty drive. One day at a time, maybe? 🤔
Seems like you need to devote more time to helping others. You're finding that purely indulging yourself isn't satisfying.
Find and do things that you enjoy
Start a family