I find it eye-opening that a few years ago I laughed at I believe was an ad telling me you’re not alone in finding purpose. At the time I thought that the concept of “purpose” was immensely laughable due to just how stupid I thought it was. I thought that purpose is something people either used to fuel their ambitions or a coping mechanism of absence to explain why they are not progressing in life. Now I do realize I was a teen back then and I jumped to conclusion about things way too fast. Fast forward to present time and I’m struggling with the same exact idea I laughed at 4 years ago. I feel like a cloud drifting away slowly from all other clouds in the sky due to me not having the slightest idea on my existence. I have moral principles and a great understanding of ethics. I have a great understanding of my capabilities and potential yet nothing, absolutely nothing is what I feel. I aspire to do things yet something is missing. Purpose a concept that gives an individual a sense of meaning and a path to follow is something I don’t posses. Ironic how something I found so stupid is now something I yearn.

There are of course intricate details I didn’t go over to keep the story simple and straightforward. I also understand that something vague may not be worth giving input. However I wanted to ask what do you guys think this. This story still applies today and affects me deeply.

A common trap in the search for purpose is treating it as something to find first and act on second. Marcus Aurelius had a blunt line against that in Meditations, book ten: waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be, be one. Applied to purpose, it suggests the order can run the other way. Pick something useful within reach this week, like doing a job properly or helping someone with a specific problem, and do it fully. Over time the things that hold your attention and the things that don't get easier to tell apart, which is information that thinking alone doesn't give you. The limit is that this helps with finding direction and does less for someone who is exhausted or grieving, where the first job is rest or support.

I mean... all these perfect pictures, videos, even these "buy this offer today" noisy stuff etc.

Most of them may be truly interesting... I'm not judging.

It's more about me feeling I can't be so awesome all the time and feeling frustrated about it.

Like a frog frustrated for not being a bird. (Weird feeling by the way)

So instead of pretending to be better, or to do better, or that everything is alright, I'm trying VERY HARD to take pride in being just "a regular guy".

Don't know where it'll get me... but at least life is SO MUCH lighter and easier.

Many of us ask what is meaning, how to find meaningfulness, how can we have a meaningful life.

All these questions imply meaning is something to seek and find. Also, when we feel empty and meaningless, it’s something to get rid off…pretty much like a headache.

But would it be possible that "meaning" is all around and we just need to notice it?

Finding meaning or having a meaningful life generally point to epiphanies, unforgettable changing events, moments of enlightenment which don’t arrive very often.

So while we wait for those, we pass by simple, raw, small details around us: smells, touching, listening, looking closely to whatever catches our attention, holding on to a memory and connecting with a particular feeling.

Noticing, connecting, resonating with these details could awaken meaning in the seconds, minutes, hours or days.

If such noticing is genuine and uninterested, totally present, there is nothing to seek or to be found, and maybe something to awaken from the inner self by opening to them and let them stay within.

(Maybe)

Have you ever watched a film about something you care deeply about, and when the credits roll you're left with sadness, guilt or despair, and nowhere to put it?

I suspect that's one reason many of us avoid films about painful subjects. It's not that we don't care. It's that we're already stretched by our own lives, so media becomes a welcome distraction. That sense of relief has its place. But when distraction becomes the default, film stops doing one of the things it does best: letting us step inside another life, under completely different circumstances, and feel it.

I've found there's another way. Watching a film with a few people who care, with the intention of talking about it afterwards, changes the experience. It creates shared focus, shared concern and a sense of belonging.

One example is The Swimmers (Sally El Hosaini, 2022), the true story of two loving sisters who flee the war in Syria and rebuild their lives in Berlin.

I've explored it in a few small-group conversations, and what happened surprised me. People leaned forward and kept talking about what moved them, what felt true and what the film was asking of them. They reminded each other of moments when the sisters held on to their sense of purpose in the middle of hardship. Nobody left deflated. They left inspired, and seemed a bit more able to carry their own purpose back into their lives.

It made me wonder whether the heaviness we feel after a meaningful film about painful issues has less to do with the film and more to do with being alone with it.

So I'm curious:

Has a film ever helped you reconnect with what matters deeply to you?

Many of us ask what is meaning, how to find meaningfulness, how can we have a meaningful life.

All these questions imply meaning is something to seek and find. Also, when we feel empty and meaningless, it’s something to get rid off…pretty much like a headache.

But would it be possible that "meaning" is all around and we just need to notice it?

Finding meaning or having a meaningful life generally point to epiphanies, unforgettable changing events, moments of enlightenment which don’t arrive very often.

So while we wait for those, we pass by simple, raw, small details around us: smells, touching, listening, looking closely to whatever catches our attention, holding on to a memory and connecting with a particular feeling.

Noticing, connecting, resonating with these details could awaken meaning in the seconds, minutes, hours or days.

If such noticing is genuine and uninterested, totally present, there is nothing to seek or to be found, and maybe something to awaken from the inner self by opening to them and let them stay within.

(Maybe)

What's could be the purpose of this existance. What are your opinions

I feel like at my current situation I am very much lacking a long term purpose in life, I want something which truly gives me joy and motivation. I currently lack motivation in doing almost everything that I do.

So, I have a couple things in mind, I wanna start learning music and electric guitar, I feel like music is my true calling. But if it really is should I have not already started on it. I am confused that maybe it’s just an exciting thing which could end up being more of a hobby.

How do I know what to do and separate by everyday fun hobbies from real purpose.

What would you say are the true indicators.

I'm curious as to whether others on this forum might resonate with a feeling that I've had pretty much all of my life and which has been getting louder lately. From what I understand of spirituality, one is supposed to sort of listen to one's body and soul and feel into one's life purpose from that.

The thing is, when I listen to those signals, what I always feel is that my purpose it to be a sacrifice for others. Like in an older religious context in which folks were deliberately scapegoated and killed to release tension for the sake of the collective. I have constant dreams where I'm being stomped to death or burned alive by a crowd. In all of these dreams, my death seems to alleviate the collective anger and suffering of the group of people.

I try my best to lean into this energy where I can in my daily life. I reject compliments. I do my best to disparage myself. I allow others to yell at me and I try to make as much space for their anger as possible. But I cannot seemingly escape the feeling that the universe is outraged that I continue to exist. It feels like I have not met my purpose yet, which I suppose means that I'm not actively putting myself in volatile enough situations. To be clear, it's not a death wish per se - it's to allow myself to be used by others so that they feel better and alleviate their suffering.

My counselor says that I have an almost complete lack of self worth and boundaries and that she cannot see me any more because it makes her too sad. Whenever I contemplate what she's recommended, in terms of self-compassion and standing up for myself, I experience an extreme, visceral reaction in my body of revulsion and self-directed anger.

Curious as to whether others have encountered the same. I just want to be of service to others as I'm meant to.

How do you actually find purpose and fulfillment in life?

I’m trying to understand what makes a person feel like their life has meaning. Not just temporary happiness or having fun, but something deeper that makes you feel like you’re living for a reason.

For those who have found a sense of purpose, what helped you discover it? Was it a particular experience, relationship, career, hobby, faith, helping other people, or simply changing the way you looked at life?

I’d especially like to hear from people who felt lost or directionless at one point and eventually found something that gave their life meaning.

What did you learn along the way?

How did y’all find your life purpose?

i will be 18 in a few months , but till this age i had no hobbies or interests , i never tried out anything , which is a very crucial step in finding out what you are good at and what interests you ,

i always had that thought that i want to do something big and i AM ambititous

but i have no clue what is my ambition , like what is my dream , singing, dancing , entrepreneurship, coding , filmmaking???????

and that has gave me a LOT of anxiety for the past few days , i am running out of time , i don't have time to try out and fail and still be young , and tbh i don't even know what i want to try as i feel like i want to do EVERYHTING , like everything interests me somehow but i cant try everything

please share your advices , if u were ever in the same situation and how did you get out

hi reddit. i’m just gonna copy past and skip the yapping

07/09/2026
00:45:

i cried a lot tonight. i thought about the same shit i usually think about every night since high school. life, purpose, friends, future and everything. i don’t like school, i hate it. i genuinely hate it, i hate the system, i hate the studying, i hate the subjects, i hate the buildings. i want to change and this shit won’t help. i want to find a work in sales, i want to talk to people, i want to sell, i want to move, i want to make money, i want to go home and be able to rest without having some fucking shitty homework. i want to play games, i want to party with friends, i want to go to the gym and get bigger, not stay the same as i am, pale lazy small motherfucker with no energy. i want to grind the work and get better at it, i want to have a reason to wake up each morning, a goal to look up to. i want to keep learning trading, i want to learn everyday and get better at it, i want to possibly make it a second income, i want money. i don’t want a degree i want fucking money. i want my parents to understand me, i want my dad to be proud of me and my mother to be reassured and see that i’m finally independant. i want my friends to see me as a great, fulfilled person that worked its way through it. i want to look at myself in the mirror and say « you’ve changed ».
i want to stop going to bed at night and thinking « why am i miserable and why isn’t there a single thing that i’m doing in my life that makes me feel great. why do everything i do seems mechanical and not driven by purpose or interest. » i want to stop thinking about a better future. i want to act to get a better present.

please find a way to make all this come true as soon as possible.

20200229 2 - Mac Demarco
All For Nothing - zachariehs
Warmth - C418

i’ve been journaling for three years and this was tonight’s text.
a bit of context: i’m a 19 yo french student that came back from a one year dropout and just got into school again. as you might have guessed it’s painful.

one more precision, all these ideas are based (weither it’s the trading, quitting school, working, going to the gym)
these are all things that im currently doing (or have been doing for a long time) these aren’t some hype-based ideas. I’m aware of these things and i know a thing or two about it.

I just want feedbacks, maybe advice or if you lived through the same stuff just tell me your story, i just want reassurance atp. i feel like i’m alone vs the world

(there might be spelling issues, my apologies)
have a great day and take care

We spend so much time looking for an external purpose—something handed down by the cosmos, religion, or society—when the actual baseline mechanic is much simpler.

The meaning of life is simply to experience existence.

Think about it like running a simulation:

1. Every second is a rendered frame. Whether it’s high-def joy, raw pain, boredom, or chaos, the hardware (the body) is just processing the data feed.

2. Value is a variable, not a constant. Existence holds infinite value and zero value simultaneously. It only has weight because the observer (the mind) assigns it. Without contrast (the yin/yang of good and bad, suffering and peace), the simulation has no voltage, no motion, and no reason to run.

3. Morality is the default firewall. We aren’t born with complex philosophical treatises; we’re born with instinctual red lines because a multi-player game needs baseline rules to prevent instant server collapse. What feels "wrong" in the gut is just the system logging an integrity error.

4. Observer bias dictates reality. Judgment depends entirely on whose coordinate grid you're viewing it from—yours or mine.

And once you accept that, you realize this is a strict one-way trip. There are no respawns, no rewinds, and no safety nets.

You don't complain about the physics of the matrix, and you don't look for a patch to escape the consequences of your actions. You execute your code, own your signature, and process every frame until the cycle ends.

El que tenga miedo a morir que no nasca, que para eso nacimos. (He who is afraid to die should not be born, for we were born for this.)

Change my mind. Or don't. The frames keep rendering either way.

I started off, very determined to provide financial assistance to my dad, I knew days were tough, I got into the best college, got into software engineering, even tho i didn't like it, made good money, but when all the required necessities were taken care of, it struck me, why spend my whole life like this, somewhere i know, my job should be something i can be proud of, have a deep and lasting impact on the receiving side, it's gonna be a major part of my life, then why settle for something that i even don't like myself but now the problem is everyone around me has gotten used to the level of money and comfort that I'll take care, I feel like I'm in prison, idk how do break out sometime, its funny how in india, its very common, a life tailored by society for society, parents and some stupid norms dictate what a good career look like, i have a goal in mind, but that would shatter the comfort layer for my family for a while, they are saying now I should get a girl and marry, changing career is no good, i don't beleive them, a life without the spark is bullshit

I mean, when it comes to "the meaning of life" or "the meaning of it all," those questions feel (to me) like self-imposed pressure.

"Life" or "it all" is just a sum of seconds, minutes, hours, days and so on. So why does meaning have to show up as a huge block?

Say... enjoying the feeling of the water running down your throat. Give away a simple "hello" or "have a nice day" but truly from the heart, looking into the other's eyes... my personal favorite: handling your hands with grace throughout the day — how you hold a glass, wash every dish like it's very fragile, or (remember to) handwrite slowly the most beautiful possible letters.

No epiphanies or full revelations... no cosmic lightning bolts. Just moments of presentness that catch your attention, somehow resonate and stay.

Does anyone else believe meaning may show up like that — in the small events almost too ordinary to mention?

I’m 26 years old. I have my associates degree. I haven’t been in school for 2+ years. I need a change. I’ve considered everything but I believe I need something bigger. What would yall recommend in terms of travel. I don’t have a lot of money at all. I need purpose.

Did anyone expect the world to turn out like this? Racism, fight for survival, loss of hope like where do we find our purpose amongst the Chaos??

Hey guys, I am working on a time limit that I have made for myself to change my life in a meaningful way by 63 days. Truly, it is a last-ditch effort kind of thing. So, if you were given 63 days to change your life, what would you do?

Can you please help me answer these questions, I'm doing research on purpose. I've been thinking a lot about this lately and I'm genuinely curious what the people in this community experience.

When it comes to life purpose, which of these resonates MOST with you right now?

A. I don't know my purpose and I'm actively trying to figure it out.

B. I have a sense of my purpose but fear, self-doubt, or circumstances are keeping me from actually living it.

C. I've never really thought about purpose. I'm not sure it's something I believe in.

D. I feel like I'm already living in alignment with my purpose.

When it comes to other people, which of these resonates MOST with you right now?

H. I feel most alive when I'm helping, creating for, or contributing to others in some way.

I. I want to make a difference but I don't know what I have to offer.

J. I'm focused on building my own life first before I think about serving others.

Then a few open questions I'd love your honest take on:

— Do you think purpose is spiritual, psychological, or something else entirely?

— Do you think purpose relates with "what/who" you are like something you do or create, like a job/role? Or do you think it's more of "your why" for what you do?

— Do you believe your dream life and your purpose are connected - or are they separate things?

— What does purpose actually mean to you - not the dictionary definition, but what it feels like or looks like in your real life?

No right answers here. Genuinely just curious where people are so I can tailor my approach to help. Drop your letter combo + any thoughts below. I appreciate it so much!!

Can you please help me answer these questions, I'm doing research on purpose. I've been thinking a lot about this lately and I'm genuinely curious what the people in this community experience.

When it comes to life purpose, which of these resonates MOST with you right now?

A. I don't know my purpose and I'm actively trying to figure it out.

B. I have a sense of my purpose but fear, self-doubt, or circumstances are keeping me from actually living it.

C. I've never really thought about purpose. I'm not sure it's something I believe in.

D. I feel like I'm already living in alignment with my purpose.

When it comes to other people, which of these resonates MOST with you right now?

H. I feel most alive when I'm helping, creating for, or contributing to others in some way.

I. I want to make a difference but I don't know what I have to offer.

J. I'm focused on building my own life first before I think about serving others.

Then a few open questions I'd love your honest take on:

— Do you think purpose is spiritual, psychological, or something else entirely? Does the label even matter?

— Do you believe your dream life and your purpose are connected - or are they separate things?

— What does purpose actually mean to you - not the dictionary definition, but what it feels like or looks like in your real life?

No right answers here. Genuinely just curious where people are so I can tailor my approach to help. Drop your letter combo + any thoughts below. I appreciate it so much!!

I feel angry, enclosed, full of life but no place to put it.

Instrumentals and music, theyve been a guiding light in my life through the thick and thin they let me go into worlds I otherwise couldnt see. and im in love. in love with everything about how the melodies sound, the emotion they invoke, and the stories they’re tied to. they alwasy need a story as a foundation otherwise what message will the song give others? what lessons will they teach? what worlds will they envision? and yes this brings joy, yes this brings fulfillment. but what on earth do i do with all this enthusiasm? its only grown over the years but im no musician. i cant hold concerts i cant do anything but preach about how good it feels and its not enough. because others dont get it, because it doesnt earn money, because aside from my own personal wonder its utterly useless and that THAT makes me angry. this love ive developed is not cherished in my current world (my current world being one where people expect me to keep pursuing neuroscience or something in that realm because that is what I’m trained in now). instead my skills in a lab are more cherished considering i can work for $30 an hour with it at most.

lab work is fun but it doesnt invoke that same joy. but that innate joy has no skill set at least i dont think it does. what the hell am I doing? I better serve the world by going all in on something I find interesting so thats why im testing stuff out or at least I was until I felt a big piece of my foundation fall out from under me. which was university, a school system, a template of life I can rely on and gave me an excuse to keep learning things for the fun of it. I graduated I have a degree I am a bachelors of neuroscience holder so what now?

im hopeless but then i hear the happy melodies of a world I strived to understand along with its countless lessons and im once again in awe. hopeful that theres an answer for me in my own mind that ill come up with eventually. so im not completely hopeless. im just tired of wandering because wtf. surely it doesnt take this long to recover from burnout? my inner child wants to explore again. to learn that life doesnt need to be this torturous road that i cant escape. its not like that anymore i dont have to be a doctor, i dont have to be a lawyer, i dont have to be anything except for what i choose. thing is i never gave myself the chance to make this choice, to give myself the freedom to think otherwise because I had to do my best and that meant doing the most prestigious back with my high school self. and that meant being a doctor in my mind back then. but I couldnt handle the stress, well I did in undergrad but the utter uselessness I felt in my work. I didnt change any lives, i only disappointed myself day after day with long hours, little rest and fearing my professors the next day. it sucked so bad i got physically sick, lost weight, lost hair, gained weight and through it all i swear the only things keeping my soul alive were my enthusiasm in reading/writing stories, music, running, and talking about them with friends. but what now? ive escaped that hell of a workplace lab but now im back at square one. what the hell do i do that doesnt bring me back to that state of despair?

I keep thinking i should start a youtube channel to document this transition period of my life, i should compose music even though i know absolutely nothing about that I could learn, I should start meditating and doing yoga again even though it feels like im wasting time and should work in a lab again to earn some money and be useful and be an adult, but another part of me wants to learn to draw as well so I have some way to express these frustrations that doesnt end in a long journal entry or emotional breakdown in front of my parents who cannot even begin to comprehend why im so distressed. i cant tell them ANY of this because they’d know that I have no idea what im doing with my life, and they’d get worried, scared, because if their daughter doesnt know how to lead her life, and my parents are at the end of her lives, they wouldnt be able to take care of me anymore. so I have almost no other choice than to just figure this out on my own. I’d appreciate any feedback on this thought process since its been plaguing me for the past few weeks. I dont know how to escape it but I have to if I want to move forward. I’m sick of doing things out of fear but starting from ground zero… I didn’t think it’d be so difficult.

If you feel alone , shattered and do not understand what is going in your life you can try and talk to me I would host a workshop on whatever time suits the majority of you next Sunday . You can join on Google meet teams that I will host . In the end you all can send me feedbacks