Does anyone feel like they have to choose between having purpose and being happy?
3 Likes
Funny you say that. I kind of feel like that.
1 Like
well just thinking if your purpose was making people happy youd be good.
me im much too sad to do that.
i have no purpose at the moment.
1 Like
I was told to find meaning in my life… so I assume that life is then meaningless unless we search meaning. But there lies the issue… when i want to find meaning I can get deep into things and that lead me to delusions. Maybe a simpler meaning, but haven’t found it yet. Still looking for a simpler way of living a meaningful life without having to look for it.
1 Like
My purpose is to find something of intrigue or value each day and share it with others. Doing this makes me happy.
8 Likes
I think it goes deeper than that for me. With my life, I can be temporarily happy without purpose, but without purpose there is no meaning and without meaning there is no lasting contentment. Even if the meaning of our lives is completely subjective, it lets us tell a story and relate to the world around us through that story. Right now I’m trying to figure out how to live a truly meaningful life with this condition I’m dealing with. It’s tough to know what is more important: being normal or dedicating my time to helping others. Maybe there is a way to try to do a little of both. I just feel this impending dread about the fact that i’m going to leave this world someday and I want people to think that I made it a better place. What lives on from us is our memory and the meaningful impact we had on people and the world while we were here.
3 Likes
I think religion gives people a shared sense of meaning, but when that meaning asserts itself as the only true way and conflicts with other meanings it becomes an obstacle to peace.
4 Likes
A part of my philosophy is that all purpose is connected to other people. If I was alone on the planet, life would truly be meaningless.
That doesen’t mean that there is anything wrong with being alone. But we aren’t alone in the world.
2 Likes
That is the wisest thing I have read since I’ve been on this forum
1 Like
Thanks. That will be 10cents. Jk 
1 Like
Let’s lay out a hypothetical situation, though. Say you were the last person alive and you could take steps to prevent the planet from going extinct, would the meaning of saving a world that would go on without them exist independent of a recipient of that meaning? Like, when they die and save the planet, nobody will know anything about humans because they will be extinct, but the planet lives on. Does their life still have meaning? And if it does, does that mean that meaning is associated with life itself and isn’t just a human construct?
IDK what my purpose is, if I even have one. But I’m happy with my life. And I am grateful for the life I have. It’s not perfect, cause I have health issues and family issues. But I have my husband, I have my cats, my dog, and my snake. I am happy, generally speaking.
6 Likes
Yea I don’t think I have any purpose either. I think just being me is purpose enough I suppose
4 Likes
Lifes an experience. Make the most of it
4 Likes
That’s a bit deep for me to take in, and it doesen’t help that english is not my native language.
I think humans are trying to correct themselves. We see that we are hurting the planet and try to correct that which is good. We have a sense of what is right. But if a meteor that was big enough hit the planet the world would truly go extinct or even explode. The planet will explode eventually. I think it has a lifespan of about 6 billion years left if a meteor or some other event doesen’t get to it first. Life is temporary, not just for humans, but even the planet and the sun.
But it’s our nature to try and provide a future for generations to come.
I don’t think this answered what you were seeking out, but it’s all I could think of.
1 Like
No that was perfect. I hope in 6 billion years time we’ll have made advancements that will carry us out beyond our solar system. We’re a young species and if we can live in balance with our environment we can survive. If not we will be eliminated. That is just the universe keeping everything in balance.
1 Like
You can have a bad purpose. It’s a little overrated. All this purpose is going to destroy the world.
I think fulfilling our purpose is what makes us happy.
2 Likes
At the rate technology is advancing we will probably reach the edges of the solar system in three or four centuries, maybe less time. Astronomers keep telling us that we need to settle other planets, so that if something happens to the earth that wipes out humanity on earth the species will still keep on, like getting hit by an astoid, or thermonuclear war, among other things. I have seen more technological progress in my lifetime than all Western Civilization saw during the entire thousand years of the middle ages.
1 Like
“…life is to be worn gloriously because, until our last moment, the future’s what we make it.”
~ Captain Pike
2 Likes