
I don’t know what to do with my life - ffggvv
https://typed.pw/a/1481
======
beeftime
If you're an avid newsreader you could be forgiven in thinking that the world
is diving headfirst into becoming a burnt-out hellscape, but that's really not
the case -- its just that our personal access to information is a lot better
now.

I mean don't get me wrong, there's still a lot of horrible shit in the world
(hold on to this for a second). In the last hundred years infant mortality and
absolute poverty cratered, literacy is skyrocketing, the impact of war has
gone into freefall. In most places things like slavery and the more horrific
diseases have been all but wiped out, and far (far!) more people than ever
actually have at least a modicum of control over their lives.

Which is not to say things are perfect. There's still so much work to be done.
If you want to start feeling better about it, start volunteering. Put in time
at a homeless shelter, or food bank, or if you have a skill find a way to use
it in helping the needy in your community. If a program you think will help
doesn't exist where you are, start one.

~~~
Tempest1981
Definitely. Avoid "news" that caters to your morbid curiousity. Don't get
drawn in. Find sites that cater instead to your intellectual curiousity.

------
projektir
The meaning of life, the point, what one should do with it... it is not a
trivial question. Most don't answer it at all. Many have it answered for them.
And then a few try to answer it themselves. Know only that all the approaches
are valid, and the question is at the edge of our understanding.

The world is, and always was, a cold place. Look at the goals of the world,
and you will see that there is no warmth in them. And in that coldness we were
born.

Yet in your giving there was warmth. In your complaint there was a judgment.
Where would it be without you? Even if you are but a spark, it means that
there is hope. So cherish yourself and kindle that spark.

------
me_not_brucelee
You can sit there and wait for someone to tell you what to do, or you can
start crawling and observe how others walk. You can look outside the window
and see all the wrong things in the world, or you can look outside and see all
the good things in the world. You can look backwards in your life and see all
the stupid things you have done, or you can think about the good things you
will be doing tomorrow. You can think about all the things you have no
control, or you can think about the things you can leverage. You can think
about that 100 people who hates you or you can about that 1 person who loves
you. You can think about yourself as a sum of all your mistakes, or you can
think about yourself as a sum of all your actions. Take a chill pill, drink
some chill beer, relax, its not the end.

------
fuzzyninja
Like everyone else, I also keep asking myself the same thing. One thing that
helped me was to read more about Existentialism, especially the work from
people like Camus or Sartre.

TL;DR there is no meaning or even the necessity of having one. Existence comes
first, each one of us can craft their own meaning.

Hang in there, my friend!

------
Tempest1981
Try getting several good nights of sleep -- I think it can change your energy
and outlook.

Also find some music that makes you feel good.

These may not be complete solutions, but may help you get to a place where you
can make progress.

------
nojvek
Hang in there. It gets better. I hit rock bottom last year and it sucked. But
after a while you kind of get comfortable in the cold darkness. The solitude
feels great. I made it a rule to give at least a dollar to every beggar I
meet. If I have time then I'll try to strike a conversation.

------
nthcolumn
So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I
say?

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c13k
So this guy has a job, is able to commute, is able to donate money to charity,
able to smile though bitterly. He had big dreams, and now is down? I don't get
it. He's not jobless, he's not homeless, he's able to commute probably not
even in a wheelchair or crutches. He's has spare change in his pocket. There
is no sense of gratitude for what he does have and complains about what he
doesn't have. Welcome to reality.

~~~
adenot
That's called depression... can hit anyone, no matter how fortunate they are,
and doesn't mean it's their fault.

~~~
makx
Though you don't know if he's clinically depressed, just has a rough week, or
generally lives in a rather bleak environment.

------
slifin
[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s1lbjmiZ1p0w-OjQLc9iQmR5...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s1lbjmiZ1p0w-OjQLc9iQmR5r1ZiBd361SrKxvavNRE/edit?usp=drive_web)

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ffggvv
Thanks a lot to everybody, I think this is the reason I like this community so
much :)

------
contingencies
Travel.

~~~
bfred_it
Been traveling for 18 months. Doesn't make a whole lot of a difference,
_especially_ when you go to poorer areas and see even worse conditions than
what the post describes.

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chickenfries
You should try volunteering.

~~~
ommunist
That will inevitably raise a question, why people do not want to help
themselves?

~~~
chickenfries
For many (include myself) it's to do with self esteem. It's much easier for me
to do something if I'm doing it for someone I care about than for myself.

