fbpx
Menu

Meaning in life ? Existentially frustrated, Need help with avoidance !!

Home→Forums→Purpose→Meaning in life ? Existentially frustrated, Need help with avoidance !!

New Reply
Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #164942
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear Zita:

    You describe anxiety, ongoing, perpetual fear: “It’s like I am running away from life… I am so afraid to confront my life head on
 I keep avoiding it all together.”

    “I do not have a why to live..how to do guys find meaning in your life ? what is your ultimate purpose ? please don’t give me vague answers, I need something concrete to hold onto, something tangible”-

    I believe that I do know the meaning of living, the why, the purpose: to experience life with the awareness possible for you. This is the only meaning I observe in nature. When you, Zita, are “running away…so afraid to confront (your) life… avoiding it”, you are not aware to the extent possible for you. Living your purpose would be, I believe, to stay (not run away), to practice courage and to confront life.

    Other animals have an easier time living their purpose, being aware to the extent possible for them, because they are not capable of self observation and elaborate language that when catches on to anxiety goes wild. So they live their purpose, experiencing life with the awareness possible for them.

    anita

     

    #164982
    Peter
    Participant

    Some of my best trips have been driving without a fixed destination open to new discovery. And in the discovery knowing what to explore and perhaps focus intention.

    I can very much related to your existential conundrum.  At the end of my search for meaning and purpose I have concluded is a fool’s game. Seeking things like meaning, purpose and happiness is like trying to grasp water or air in a grasping hand. The reason is that such experience exists in there being not as something created.  We do no create happiness but notice it. It is only after noticing happiness that we reverse engender it.  When I did x, y, and z it creates such and such which I experienced as happiness. We think that if I keep doing x, y and z trying to recreate such and such I should always be happy. And we fail, as such doing can only end in failure and depressed. Purpose and meaning are the same. As long as we are seeking we are not finding. (To find we stop in the still point of the moment)

    When most people talk about purpose they usually image something grand and because its grand easily recognizable
 hopefully applauded by others that will marvel at their purpose. Most purpose and meaning that we will experience belong only to us that no one else might noitice.

    In your driving metaphor of driving without a fixed destination you seem to assume that you must identify and ‘know’ your purpose or meaning (Not the same things) before getting into the car and driving anywhere – as only drives with a specific direction can have purpose and meaning?  You may be seeking to define your purpose and meaning before you actually live it, which might be backwards.

    That may be the wrong quest/question as the experience (state of being) of meaning and purpose occur in the process of being and then only if ones eyes are open. Even driving without direction can become experiences of meaning and purpose!

    Your angst may not be so much about meaning and purpose but in choosing a path and that is not the same as purpose or meaning. The problem seems to be that not just any path will due but that you must “know”  what the ‘right path’is before travailing it, a path that is certain, with certain expectations of purpose and meaning.  Certainty is nice but it tends to turn on you especially for those seeking meaning or purpose. Certainty can close a person off to discovering what is right in front of them.

    My advice for what is worth is to refrain the questions your asking yourself and enjoy the drive.  With such openness the drive itself maybe an experience of purpose and meaning and point you to your path.  (which will be the one you were always on)

    In my philosophical search for purpose, I end with Camus that all philosophical search ends in the absurd and the choice to laugh or cry. “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” ― Albert Camus

    My end to the quest for meaning ends with Joseph Campbell

    “Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.”― Joseph Campbell

    You are the answer! Even driving without a destination is meaning, is purpose, when eyes are open. Open to wonder, open to bliss
.

    “If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.”― Joseph Campbell

    #165010
    Humanoid
    Participant

    Dear Zita, well where to start? Firstly do not fret about your position, just be glad your life is still wide open with opportunities. Be true to yourself and that path will come.  For me there are two kinds of purpose, personal and universal.

    For your personal purpose it can be anything at all and your purpose can change throughout your life. Everyone is unique and everyone has their own contributions to make in life. Reading the above it sounds like your crave some direction, but it has to be your direction, not anyone else’s. Why not try this exercise:

    Get in a positive frame of mind and relax. Then think to yourself what could the very best version of you look like in 10 years. (or any other preferred time frame). What have you achieved? What sort of life do you lead? What does your personal life feel like?What would you like to be doing? What would an average day or week look like? Write it down on the paper then put it away for a week, then repeat the exercise until you can consistently form a picture which would make you happy. The happy feeling is imperative here, rather than any factors from outside you.

    When you have something your pleased with, think about just one very small step you can take towards this vision and take it. Don’t procrastinate – take it.  You have nothing to loose. When you have taken it congratulate yourself and write it down. Put the paper away somewhere and every time you feel lost get it out. Does the vision still resonate with you? If not its fine to change it as life twists and turns, but keep a future ideal vision. You might surprise yourself the progress that can be made towards it.

    You mention career choice. Let me give you some advice on this. Find something you LOVE. One of the secrets of a happy life is to find something that makes your heart sing irrespective of any material benefit or expectation from others. (A good acid test is something that doesn’t give you the Monday morning blues!) If you really love what you do, you cannot fail to make a great success of it. Do not sleepwalk into a career simply because of peer pressure, expectation or to make someone else proud. ( I speak from experience here)

    In terms of Universal purpose, well I believe it is to strive to better ourselves and to help the lives of those around us. And to be clear by bettering ourselves, I refer to our inner self. Do we default to anger or love? Do we harbour jealousy or goodwill? Are we positive or negative? etc etc. As for impacting the lives of others, there is a whole spectrum of ways to help others – a simple smile to a neighbour can brighten their day, a random act of kindness can reduce people to tears of joy. And giving help is reciprocal  – it makes us feel good too and can help us put our problems into perspective when we help people in a less fortunate position than us.

    I hope this is of some help to you and I wish you all the best

    H

    #165096
    Elyse
    Participant

    Zita,

     

    Although I don’t have any advice to give, I do want to let you know that you are not alone. I am in the “almost thirty” category and am feeling the exact same way as you are. Those around me that love and support me keep telling me to release this need to force something in my life and to continue my “driving” while taking little pit-stops to places I might enjoy. So I started meditating, I started going to some low-cost classes at a local community center, and I am trying daily to just get through without crying or having an anxiety attack. These “pit-stop” experiences help for the time being because they help me to keep going and not give up.

     

    -E

    #165126
    Peter
    Participant

    Does anyone here wonder if this the sense of not having purpose or meaning is really a experience of loneliness?

    Are they the same things?

    • This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by Peter.
    #165380
    Isbella
    Participant

    Dear Zita,

    How to find your purpose in life? I was the one who always thought about it. Pondering our purpose in life may seem as futile as digging for water in the desert. After I had spent time for many years finding the meaning to life, I finally found the answer, and it’s so simple. I found the meaning to be that it’s not the destination but it’s the journey.  I have learned new things every day on my own journey. Sometimes I face difficulties, and sometimes I find joy. I have learned that I can’t just stay home pondering about the purpose of life, but I need to take the journey.

    The purpose in life is to live in the moment earnestly, not to worry about what may come tomorrow. To be a better person than you were yesterday. To love yourself and believe in yourself, to be content with what you have and who you are. To give yourself an opportunity to try new things, even if you will fail, you will fall, but you can still rise and you learn from it. That will make you grow and be stronger. The most important thing is to choose to live happily regardless the circumstances.

    I hope this helps and wish you all the best.

    Engfa

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Please log in OR register.