We spend our days bound by endless obligations. Yet, even with loneliness, failed relationships, and soul-draining work, people still manage to catch a glimpse of happiness. Why?

  • Onno (VK6FLAB)@lemmy.radio
    0·
    2 months ago

    Welcome to adulthood.

    The question you ask is universal. The answer much less so and in that difference lies the journey of life.

    For some it’s about amassing as much wealth as possible, for others it’s about cementing a legacy. The pursuit of happiness is a common approach and to serve is yet another. Some seek solace in religion, others in hedonism. Some spend a lifetime searching, others exist and take in the experience.

    For me it’s about making the world a better place.

  • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
    0·
    2 months ago

    There’s no meaning, no purpose. We’re random life on a random planet. Try to have a happy life and try not to inhibit the happiness of others. That’s it.

  • D4NT3@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    IIRC, the nihilist position is that there is no point, and the way I’ve chosen to interpret that is that it means we are free to personally define the point at any time, and for any length of time, as we please. The pointlessness lets us custom design life to fit our needs and desires, if we can minimize getting caught up in “you should do this and be that” external mentalities that may be incompatible with our natures. This seems like one of many correct paths to life satisfaction.

    Of course, part of the battle is discovering what’s in your(you in general not you specifically) nature to do and be, and then having the courage to see it through no matter what influences around you are saying or doing that may contradict it. The other part being unlearning incompatible mindsets that may have been fed into your mind when you were younger; authority figures anywhere in, and in any stage of, life are in dangerous positions to cause long term harm to impressionable, trusting minds, which is why I personally focus more on the “figure” and less on the “authority” part of “authority figure” when I’m dealing with people in those positions.

    “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it” - Aristotle or whoever actually said it.

      • gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de
        0·
        2 months ago

        From what i’ve observed, people deal with “there’s no higher power” differently.

        For some people, that i call right-wing, or authoritarian, having some higher power that tells them what to do, is the meaning of life. If they lose that something, then they become depressed and stop living, in any sense, a joyful life.

        On the other hand, there are people, which i am comfortable to call left-wing, or hippies, or communitarian, who don’t need that higher power to tell them what to do, in fact, it rather obstructs them. They are joyful even in the absence of a higher, guiding power, because they can find their own meaning in life.

  • Ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    2 months ago

    All I know is that I’d rather be here than not be here. It doesn’t get much deeper than that for me.

  • andrewta@lemmy.world
    0·
    2 months ago

    Learn. Evolve. Improve one’s mind. Understand more of the universe. Gain a greater understanding of one’s place in the universe. Grow beyond what we understand and comprehend existence at this point.

  • Arbiter@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Well, things do happen after you die, just not to you.

    Compassion for those who come after us is one possible source of meaning.

    One could also consider that having no afterlife makes this life more meaningful than it would be compared to an infinity.

  • bstix@feddit.dk
    0·
    2 months ago

    I prefer not having a meaning of life.

    Imagine having a real purpose. Then the question would still be “why”, but you’d also have that obligation to do.

  • ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org
    0·
    2 months ago

    It’s the everyday drudgery, miseries and annoyances that make the good times worthwhile. Just like you never appreciate the sun more than in a place that gets very little of it.

    I currently live in a country that enjoys a very high standard of living and where people really do enjoy the good life. Yet weirdly enough, a lot of the locals are depressed and keep complaining. Why? Because they don’t realize what they have, because it’s their everyday normal.

    As for what’s the point of living, if you don’t want to fall into the easy fallacies of religion, I suggest you simply enjoy your life while you can. You were born with a finite number of hours on this dirtball and they’re ticking away, so make sure you spend as many as you can with your loved ones having a good time. Because when the clock stops ticking, it’s over.