what is life all about?

[isus]

in the midst of depression, i have intrigued myself to understand what the meaning of life is. there are many underpinnings as to why i thought this up, if it is necessary to know, i suppose i could tell.. either way, vote!

[Rahwgwar]

I too have been battling bouts of depressions myself. I've had problems w/ OCD and social anxiety disorder to an extent. I run on pure adrenaline and have extreme ups and downs that seem to show up sometimes, like a manic depressive. For the OCD, I've seen my doctor and for now I've gotten it under control except for this stupid crap that I always rationalize or justify. I've wondered about Paxil to help some depression and anxiety, but I HATE depending on products to help me out. I mean my life is much, much better than a lot and what I'm dealing with is just a microcosm of a microcosm. I'd rather work things out using my head and taking control of my life. When it really comes down to it, I would take motivation courses and stuff like that, but I would not take pills or medication unless absolutely necessary. I've asked myself this question many times and have done some weird ass shit alone. Sometimes my mind works in odd ways and I can't distinguish the tangible and intangible and question some really stupid crap. (No I am not high nor am i schizo). It's kinda indescribable.

Man, but in all seriousness, I'm still searching for the answer. I've drifted away from my faith the past few years, so I don't really know how to answer it. I'm kinda in the same boat as you. But you know, just be happy in life and try not to sweat the small things. I'm trying to take it one step at a time and really live life to the fullest from now. Not let my weird conscience ask stupid questions and only worry about the important stuff. I guess that didn't help you much, but u know, just wanna let u know that I feel for ya. And looking back on it, it felt good to release these feelings.

[Krell]

Very few people know how bad off I was before Christmas. In my search for signifigance, I asked the same questions.

There are so many layers to peel off, so much hype and euphemism. At the core, what does it really really boil down to?

Even the questions like, what makes you happy?, are not the right ones. Purpose, reward, expectation, all weigh in the balance.

I cant answer any of these for you. I can say, that historically, Paxil was the only friend I had, and when you walk thru a Right Aid @ 2:am drinking Pepto Bismol and throwing up blood, its time for Paxil. 1/2 a tablet worked great for me, saved my life. Are pharmaceuticals the answer, NO , theyre a bandaid, to help you find the real answers.

You may not particularly like me, or care to hear my meager 2 cents, but when it comes down to it, I find that most personal differences fade fast, and are petty. I hope you find some resolve.

cheers

[stuperfied]

We are built up and built up with all the knowledge of our forfathers so we can use it to teach others and make life a little better.............Why?

We have this huge brain which allows us to understand how and why things happen and it's completely useless because none of it realy matters in the big picture of existance anyway.

A lot of people have trouble comming to terms with the fact that they are just like all the other creatures on this plannet and their life means exactly nothing.

This kind of thinking is called a superiority complex so in response to isus's post I think there should be another sellection "Life has no meaning"

As you can see I also suffer from depression.

This is exactly why I'm trying to get things like the X Prize and the users internet happenning, I think that maybe if we banded togeather to achieve something we might at least get remembered and that to me is worth something.

[sleepischeap]

everyones life has a different meaning. even if you knew the meaning of life what difference would it make.

[stuperfied]

Ok, if you want a reason for your exhistance then try this.

The plannet's eco system is allway's changing and trying to adapt because if it does not adapt it dies.

we are just another adaption. After the many eyons the plannet has endured and the multitudes of species which have become extinct the plannet evolved a species capable of adaption just like it in the hopes that this new species would find a way to survive and maybe just maybe if it does survive it will serve to help the rest of the ecosystem to survive aswell.

So basically your here to try to find a way to ensure the continuance of life it's-self.

Great job we are doing too hey........

[chipperrox]

life is about leaving the world a better place than when you came.

life is about leaving you memory. someone who is rememberd fondly is not truly dead.

[SUPrEmEBeInGismyFrIeND]

Rahwgwar i can relate the most to you

[MoonMan]

What does it mean when life isn't worth as much to you as it was? What if life has become so meaningless to you that continuing it would only serve to make it worse?

These are the kind of questions that I have asked myself and sometimes the answer isn't a good one.

I have battled depression for what seems like an eternity (most of my child life.. I'm 18 now). No one was ever there for me, nothing ever went right, and I never got anywhere. Seemed like anything I touch turned to piss, and everyone I met ended up hating me. I still am not over that, but I have learned (well partially) to control these feelings so I don't run out the friends I still have. Asking for pity is not the way to go about it.

I don't take pharmesuticals because I hate doctors, and anything to do with them. The only support for me would be my friends who live near me(especially my best friend apoo.. poor guys dad just died), my brother whom I owe my life too, and the internet for keeping me busy. I am what some people would call, a guy with no life. I left school, work at a pretty low paying job, and play with computers most of the day. Why am I posting this? Because I have nothing to hide, and as Rahwgwar said above, it feels better to release things like this. I know I have opened myself up for some nasty comments by a few trolls who only come here to attack users, but they are probably as bad off as I am or worse so posting anything here would only prove my point.

Things are better than they were though, not by much. I have learned to coop with certain issues and have started going out more (*gasp* lol).

Now don't take my post for a suicidal cry for help, because a) I'm too chicken shit to ever try and do it, and b) I have too many things that would only be hurt more by something like that (my little brother would be one).

EDIT: I just realised how depressing my post is, and I would like to point out that these are mostly feelings that I have gotton used to and my outlook on life is better.

By the way, 'Bad Religion - Faith Alone' is a recommended song for those of you who understand where I am coming from.

[isus]

wow... im glad i asked this question, it has brought on many interesting answers.

i love zp bc there are ppl you can talk to about life at anytime.

thanks guys

[PatientSaint]

I think for the most part everyone has their struggles in life...I guess it comes down to we all make life what we want it to be. Life is about having dreams and passions whether that might be in ur love life, professional, or some other venue of ur private life. My feelings are if u haven't got any dreams or passions...ur more or less dead.

They're they essance of what makes at least makes me wake up every morning. When it comes down to it...every day is going to bring new challenges and also new hopes and dreams. Everything can change in a minute whether it be bad or good. Just gotta live with the bad and revel in the joyous times in life. After having to bury 2 grandparents u realize how much life is a gift and u never know when ur going to go or when someone that is dear to you is.

I guess the best i can do is quote from Contact
"sometimes the only thing that makes the emptyness of life bearable is each other"
While that's prolly not on target exactly i hope u all get the point. when it comes down to it we have each other in life....friends family,lovers...

Til next time i wish u all find inner peace and happiness in life...

[Tremaine]

this is a question i cannot answer myself there to much fucked up shit in the world that you cannot explain, like it the reason i dont completly believe in the the catholic religion, the only thing i can really believe is something had to make us, but what ever made us the thing is how can you explain what created that, so in the end you can never explain life. and that is what bugs me, so in the end i just try to enjoy my life to best of what i can.

[wingnut2600]

This weekend I was in a funk... you know, the kind when everything has lost its color and life. I am better now, but it still comes at times...

I realize every once in a while that I become so depressed that I cannot deal with anything, but this is just momentary, and, if I don't freak out and lose it, I will regain composure and not be locked up.

I am not that depressed any more, although I have very strong anti-social leanings. I am excellent in a group environment, as long as I do not have to make a real connection.

Strangely enough, I am married to a wonderful person that hates the world yet loves it in a similar manner to myself, so we have one another to lean on when the other gets down.

At one point, I was diagnosed as Bi-polar and have taken Lithium, Zoloft, Paxil (I have taken real "hard" drugs, and nothing compares to when I stopped taking Paxil after a year--I could not do anything but sleep for two days; I crashed--it was horrible), Depacote, and Wellbutrin (also used to stop smoking). These drugs did nothing but make my perceptions of the world thin and colorless, so I have stopped taking them for years. I realize now that I just am depressed, and that I made my doctor think that I was Manic so that I could get better drugs that might actually make me feel better.

I do not believe in medication to stop depression. It is a personal process that all should go through to alleviate these conditions. Drugs can help, but counseling and positive self-talk/meditation help quite a bit more.

Depression is something that I believe can be overcome through humor and perspective. The world is absurd, and we are not taught to appreciate this inherent madness and self-contradictory climate in which we live.

I realized one day that I am a good person, with many excellent traits, and that no other person deserves the right to life and happiness than me (or any of you). This realization allowed me to not be held down by the vague (yet strong) constraints that society holds over me. I now try to do whatever I wish to make myself feel better.

Unfortunately often I procrastinate or just avoid interaction with the world, so I should break-out and face it head-on--in order to defeat the spectre of depression that looms over my shoulder and tries to convince me that I am not good enough or do not deserve something.

Back to the question at hand; what is life about?

Life is about whatever you make it. You have the ability to shape the world to whatever your particular vision is.

I hate SNL, but I love the character Stuart Smalley and his quote, which holds tru to all humans, "I am good enough, smart enough, and gosh-darnit, people like me." This is positive self-actualization, and it is the cornerstone to achieving your full potential. If you say a personal mantra to yourself, eventually you will believe it.

I try to lodge an idea similar to this in my subconscious--close enough to guide, but distanced to avoid actively hindering my own journey of self-potentiation. It is basically that I can do anything I set my mind to... and I can if I focus my thought, energy and resources into the task at hand.





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Thought #2 - life is about nothing---we were born through random chance into a world that we wanted nothing of. The only way out is to cause our own destruction, yet if we do not do this, it will eventually take us without any prior knowledge; death is waiting and can strike any time---even now.

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Thought #3 - People that are depressed are often just open to the reality of the world instead of the artificial social constructs that surround us. I feel depressed because I was told that there was an Easter Bunny and that if I was good that I would never know death. I never believed this because I saw through this as social control to keep people doing what is right in a world without order.

I believe that there is natural morality based upon the fact that humans are social creatures. Killing is wrong since it is against our own species and that is intrinsic in a social creature. Religion tries to make these natural rules for human interaction and explain them in the context of laws and consequences that take away from out free will.

Religions attempt to explain something that is unexplainable and make us feel secure in our place in the universe. They do a good job of this, but there is a price. This price is the understanding of something on many levels--sometimes self-contradictory and paradoxical. I see things in many ways and can argue against myself--I try to look at things from all hypothetical viewpoints and discern the best answer for the time or create an amalgamation or discard them all--and then it can be changed. Religion does not allow for this plasticity of thought. Life is black and white (yet everybody knows that it is colored).

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Life is what you make of it... no one else before or after sees or understands the world as you will. You are an individual that came here by chance... all of the possibilities in the universe are within your grasp.

I could go on, but why?

[Undermind]

life is life, just live it

[method]

Hmmmm.... I already gotta girl.. totally.. and if problems (other than females) occur.. another girl just.... urm... arrives.

I gotta theory.

It's the computer-nerd.. lack of females theory.

I think it distorts the vote.

Life is about 42. 42 is the meaning of everything so...

Why isn't 42 in the poll?

Life is about having fun, procreating, making sure your procreations are set up to have fun.. and then.. having more fun. Get a girl, have a holiday, work hard make money, have lots of holidays, have kids, have holidays, have fun, money, fun, girls, fun, divorce, fun, old-age, fun, hip replacement, fun, kids begging for money, fun.. and so on..

So... HAVE FUN!!!!

Peace!!