Why do you like being alive? Do you think it’s worth the hassle?
Because I am not gonna die a virgin!
After that’s outta the way… I got nuttin. I guess if spore isn’t out I could wait for that.
I had a similar goal in my life: to live long enough to see all the Star Wars movies and have high quality versions of my own. Unfortunately, that goal ended on a bit of a disappointing note, so though it’s been reached, it wasn’t worth the wait, really, except on a completist level.
However, now that that goal is completed, I don’t really have another one of any great consequence, so I’ve been a little bit directionless lately. I have plans, but they’re somewhat amorphous and I don’t have the passion for them right at this point in time.
I’m somewhat lost.
Always something new to learn, to see, to experience! We live in an infinite treasure trove of fascinating things. There’s no way I could possibly live long enough to get bored.
Is it worth the hassle? You bet! Hassles aren’t permanent. They come and eventually they go. And even in the midst of hassles, there can be tiny moments of pleasure and happiness.
On preview; you don’t necessarily need a goal to be happy. I think you need to pay attention. It’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind and miss the myriad little moments of delight that life often brings.
Not the right question to answer at 3:00 a.m.
I figured that out a looong time ago, you do not ponder this shit in the wee hours.
When do you ponder it? On your lunch break?
Who gets a lunch break?
You ponder it when there’s at least a 51% chance you’ll like the answer - say, with a tall cold drink in one hand and warm sunshine on your toes.
Or, at the very least, after a really satisfying fuck.
It’s all about stacking the odds.
How do you know we really exist? We could all be battery cells ala The Matrix. Or the figment of some alien being’s dreams.
As to being “worth it”, as opposed to what? Sometimes it’s magic, sometimes it sucks horribly. That said, as corny and cliche as it is, being alive IS what a person makes of it. So, it it isn’t “worth it”, then (at least for me), I change what’s going on.
Woody Allen said that reality is the only place that you can get a good steak. That kind of has to do with your question.
When I was still in my twenties, I decided to have a goal for each decade of my life. I’ve made some major changes in my life because of that promise to myself.
Maybe you need to set yourself a “for fun” goal. Travelling and the planning for it always seemed to pull me out of the blues.
Write your goal down. Research it. Make a list of specific things you need to do to accomplish that goal. Do a little something each day toward that goal. Bit by bit it falls into place. (If you need an extra boost, make that the day you apply for your passport.)
This technique has worked for me many times. Big goals are accomplished on a day by day basis.
Hey, if you have the blues for more than a couple of week, or if your sleeping and eating habits change a lot or you have trouble concentrating, you might be facing something more than just the blues. In that case, talk with your physician about your symptoms.
Promise yourself to find out what makes you happy.
And if you haven’t seen the movie Harold and Maude in a while, it’s time to review the basics.
Ah, now there’s a whole new thread right there. I always figured I’d rather live in the Matrix than the real world. I was on Joe Pantoliano’s side.
Death. Or, to be less morbid, non-existence.
What’s really…unsettling…are those times when it IS really real. And it’s NOT in your mind.
Much more comfortable to live with the bits and pieces that manage to get through the filter we call “reality”. “Non-existence” is a piece of cake, really.
And never have another chocolate milkshake? :eek: No, but seriously - death will come anyway at some point so why not make the most of it while you’re here. You only get one go-round and there’s so much here to live for.
To put it in possibly frothy terms, but I still think the gist is good, via Trooper: We’re here for a good time, not a long time - so have a good time, the sun can’t shine every day.
Actually, if you are seriously at a point where the future looks nothing but bleak to you, you may be falling into depression and you may need to see a physician very soon. Depression, you see, is a lying SOB that paints the world black and puts blinkers on you so you can’t see anything but the blackness and you certainly can’t see life’s bright spots at all. It’s all deception; there’s much to live for so if you truly think there’s not, then it’s that bastard depression lying to you.
I’m hoping you’re just asking this idly, but please do see your doc if it’s more than that.
I’m not in a depression, I don’t think. I’m not even gloomy, right at this point. Just introspective, and it’s something I ponder from time to time, especially when I look around and see confusing, depressing, unsettling, dangerous, and just downright sad events happening around me.
True happiness is something I’ve never experienced, the best I’ve had is a feeling of contentment and hope, which doesn’t last that long.
I think I’m clinically okay. Thanks for your concern, though.
Well, the first 39 years were a write-off, but it’s a stone groove now. It isn’t a hassle for me anymore. I’m doing better than anyone I knew back home. They’re all still struggling and slaving away at crap jobs and drowning their sorrows in booze and drugs, hoping something will happen to them someday, and I’m free of that.
The people where I come from didn’t like me or love me; they barely tolerated me, and sometimes not even that. People like me now. I’m no longer being punished for being the kind of person I am - now I’m being rewarded for it. People keep doing nice things for me, because they want to - they must think I’m worth it. That’s the complete opposite of how it used to be. Once I got away from my family and the people I knew, everything changed for the better.
I have been thoroughly enjoying myself for the last nine years, since I moved here to get married. I know how bad it used to be, and how good it is now, and I can really appreciate the difference. My wife loves me, and that’s the key. I never knew what that was like, and it’s so much better than I imagined, I can’t adequately describe it. I don’t have to strive for acceptance anymore. I have it - at home and at work and among friends. I have proved I can do what I said I could do, and I’ve earned what I have on my own merit. And brother, my cup runneth over. The knowledge that those people in my past were so wrong about me all along, and I was right…is liberating, to say the least. I am enjoying this to the max.
Getting older sucks.
But compared to the alternative, it’s great 
I find life fairly entertaining at times; and since I also like sleeping, death doesn’t seem that uninviting either. A ‘win-win’ situation if ever there was one.
[Laverne DeFazio] I’m gonna bo-di-o-do before I go! [/Laverne DeFazio]
This will sound soooo cheesy - but
LOVE is the answer.
It’s better than any alternative
Contentment is good, and hope is wonderful!
Intense happiness and elation? They’re kind of dangerous to society. They’re all about letting go, which is counter-productive if the goal is to keep everyone going to work and going to war. But if you want to get there, I’d suggest you stop watching commercial television, especially the news shows (assuming you watch them, which I don’t know). IME, real happiness is found in the act of doing. I think it’s also chemical and varies depending on what you’re eating and how much exercise you’re getting.