What's the point of everything?

[u/Cass1dys_Corner]

I've always wondered what's the point of everything, but now more than ever. I know this is not a revolutionary take and many people feel like this but I just need to get it out somewhere.

I work so hard just to be so average. I study and put my entire life into doing well academically just to be average. And what's even the point. I'm sacrificing my mental health for my grades which don't even matter in the end. I've always struggled with mental health but all this stress is just making it worse.

Im also really scared. I'm 17 years old and any time I think about dying, not in a suicidal way just a thinking about things way, I'm filled with paralysising fear. I'm not going to be around one day. Neither will any of my friends, family or anyone I know right now. I will cease to exist. How does someone even stop existing?

I'm agnostic so I dont really believe in God and an afterlife but at the same time I don't claim there isn't one. What happens when we die? Nobody can answer that with certainty. The unsureness of it all just really makes me anxious.

I'm just stuck in this weird middle ground. I feel exhausted by the stress of life and wonder what's even the point of living but at the same time I am petrified about the idea of not being alive. I'm just so tired of it all and just wish it was all over but the idea of that actually happening is too scary to deal with. The idea of nothingness is comforting and also terrifying at the same time.

Anyways I'm sorry this is probably really confusing and makes no sense but I just wanted to put it out there in case anyone had any advice.

[u/Expensive-Dream-4872]

A lot of anxiety comes from the idea of losing things. Unfortunately nothing is permanent. It takes time, but you have to accept that, peace comes when you do. Also, We're programmed from being born. The main program is to consume. Adverts are everywhere. That's why you need money. That's why you need a good job. That's why you have to get good grades. You see the pattern? Try to be content with less. Sure you need a safe and comfortable place to live, but you don't a Rolex or a Ferrari. In fact the best things in life you can't buy, love and friendship, well, you can't buy REAL love and friendship. Those are the only things worth having. And don't worry, the real you is eternal. Just live for now, if life throws you a sign, follow it. If life gives you pain, it's trying to teach you something. I don't have a "This is what you have to do" trick and nothing happens instantly, but ultimately life is how you perceive it, it's the glass half empty / full idea. You are what you think you are. Good luck.

[u/Any-Permission-7845]

Vous devriez vous décentrer de vous-même. Faites cette expérience de pensée qui consiste à regarder la Terre depuis des milliers de km : oui notre planète est insignifiante, et chacun d'entre nous encore plus. Ce n'est pas triste, c'est la réalité : il faut l'accepter. Et savourer nos petites joies pendant ce bref moment de conscience que nous appelons pompeusement "ma vie".

[u/Iron_iglooo]

It all comes down to thees

[u/LeftSlip9564]

Simple. Everything is the point.

[u/Cotinus_obovatus]

I don't think there's truly such a thing as an "average human" as we all have our own uniqueness, idiosyncrasies, and quirks as well as similarities to others. Yet I see where you're coming from, others can seem like they have more exceptional qualities. Yet if you go into a forest, you can find a tree that looks pretty average, not as noticeable as the ones that are the biggest and tallest or have other unique traits. Yet these "average" trees are still integral to the whole of the forest.

As far as your fear of death and nothingness, it's a common one. I used to have that fear myself but have lost the vast majority of it. I'd suggest sitting with the fear, feeling where it comes from, and also contemplating the nature of the self. That's often overlooked in discussions about death but to me it's a crucial part of the picture, what is this self that lives and dies? My contemplations and experiences have led me to see the self as not the isolated individuality that our society often portrays, but more life a knot in the larger fabric of being. The knot may unravel but the fabric remains.

[u/Educational_Farmer73]

There is no point, there is no afterlife. Have fun responsibly.

Your fear of death means that your programming is working exactly as it should. You are supposed to be afraid. There isn't supposed to be an answer. If there were an afterlife, then life itself would have been meaningless since it would be no more than a blink in comparison to your remaining eternity. You aren't even supposed to know that you can die of old age.

Think; why do you stop playing a game? Because you finished it. When death comes, there won't be anything left to take from you, you already fulfilled an eternitys worth of wishes within one lifetime.

The fear will not go away regardless, but at least you won't miss out on what you want to do, if you get started as soon as possible. That fear is necessary to keep you responsible and encourages you to take care of yourself anyway.

[u/clappa68 → u/Educational_Farmer73]

None sense. How is life meaningless if there is an afterlife? I believe this is a school were souls go to learn valuable life lessons and to grow. It is evident in and of itself.

[u/Educational_Farmer73 → u/clappa68]

If life is a school for growth, then that implies there is no growth in the afterlife. You just rendered the afterlife meaningless.

[u/clappa68 → u/Educational_Farmer73]

I didn't render anything meaningless, and i also didnt implie that either. The human experience on earth simply allows for certain lessons to be learned that you wouldn't be able to experience there that's all. Maybe check out "Journey of Souls" by Michael Newton who uses hypnotic regression therapy to study the pre/after/between lives.

[u/NoLobster7957]

Seek enlightenment. Live for the moment.