What is the real purpose of life?

[Guest tm_]

Another sleepless night and i've been thinking how my life progressed for the past months. Got laid off from job. Lost my dog. I'm in bad debt. Still single. You may say i'm depressed. I think so too. My life is full of hardship. I can't think of any day that i'm happy. It is always a struggle. Day by day that i've been thinking why should I live this way no matter how i try to make myself better and comfortable, it is just sadness.

[Pubic01]

I think there’s no purpose. Just that each is given a chance to just live and experience. Having happy memories hence count a lot, given its intrinsic meaninglessness to begin with. Go get another dog, find another job to clear debt. Rid one negative aspect one at a time in your own pacing. Maybe the pages in life will flip. 

[GachiMuchi]

As much as I want to empatised with you, I would say, you are lucky that even though bad things happen, you are lucky that you are not married with kids and your family is not waiting for you to put food on the table.

 

You can sulk and bemoan how sad, bad and unfortunate you are every day and let your emotions gets the better of you, or you can do something about it. 

 

As I don't know you, I can only base on what you had posted to deduced from there.

1. It seems you are staying alone. So, see if you can rent out your room/s, if any. There you can get some income. (don't say you don't like sharing your space with strangers. You don't have a choice.)

2. Instead of eating out, you can save some money by cooking meals yourself. Don't know how to cook, learn from youtube.

3. Loss of your dog is timely, if you can't even feed yourself, now you have one less mouth to feed. Yes, it sounds cold, but that's life.

4. If you are living in a condo, you might want to consider downgrading to a public housing. Downgrading to a 2 room or a Single's unit will help.

5. If you have any electronics or jewelries or stuff you don't use, you might want to sell it off on Carousell as preowned.

6. Instead of taking cab, try public transports, e.g., bus and MRT.

7. Singlehood for the time being is a good thing as it will cut your expenses until your debt situations gets better.

8. Don't travel or spend on unnecessary expenses except on basic necessity.

 

The above steps may make it sounds like you are making drastic changes to your life, but you can try and take small steps to accomplish it and hopefully you paid off your debt, things might slowly turn for the better, and you can start go back to your comfortable life.

 

My 2 cents.

[Steve5380]

The REAL purpose of life?   Ha ha ha...    I have to agree with the previous posters in that we don't REALLY know!

 

But we can speculate, this is what we agnostics do.  For example, our life today is an opportunity for our spirit, our "soul",  to exist and accumulate knowledge, experience.  

 

Our spirit may exist at different times in various forms,  not necessarily inside a living creature.  WHY is our spirit evolving?  For what purpose?  We don't know.

 

The list by @GachiMuchi seems excellent.  Being alone, without pets should be ideal.  Just your body to feed and keep warm (or cold in Singapore).   Be as frugal as old retired people.  Don't travel, cook for yourself if you can.  Live in a place as inexpensive as possible.  But maintain yourself in good condition to be presentable for whatever job opportunities may come your way.   Then any job income will help you reduce your debt, which you may eventually renegotiate, and allow to sustain you.

 

If the purpose of this life is to gain experience, knowledge,  then hardships ARE a source of these.   A perfect happy and problem free person may not learn very much.  And believe it,  wealthy people are not necessarily happy. Put trust in "deferred gratification",  a happier future, and tolerate your hardship today without becoming too bitter.

[Guest Guest]

5 hours ago, Guest tm_ said:

Another sleepless night and i've been thinking how my life progressed for the past months. Got laid off from job. Lost my dog. I'm in bad debt. Still single. You may say i'm depressed. I think so too. My life is full of hardship. I can't think of any day that i'm happy. It is always a struggle. Day by day that i've been thinking why should I live this way no matter how i try to make myself better and comfortable, it is just sadness.

How did you get into bad debt? 🤔

 

If you had a dog last time, this means financially you were still OK? 🤔

[Guest It's okay]

Our purpose is just to pretend to live. 

 

Everyone can be laid off at work 

Everyone has some form of debt. 

Everyone has their own inner darkness 

Everyone is also tired

Everyone is just trying to live. 

Everyone 

[fab]

https://teachingsofthebuddha.com/what-is-the-purpose-of-life-in-buddhism/

[Guest Eat, Sleep, Shit = Blessed]

Everytime I saw a credit card promoters,  I screamed and ran for my life.  My point is, I don't hold a single credit card.  I pay cash.  No cash? Don't buy. 

[Guest DonsonKwa]

10 hours ago, Guest tm_ said:

Another sleepless night and i've been thinking how my life progressed for the past months. Got laid off from job. Lost my dog. I'm in bad debt. Still single. You may say i'm depressed. I think so too. My life is full of hardship. I can't think of any day that i'm happy. It is always a struggle. Day by day that i've been thinking why should I live this way no matter how i try to make myself better and comfortable, it is just sadness.

my only advice to you  -  do ur best to control & manage ur finance planning.  

getting into debt is a very messy matter.  

[Guest Passerby]

What is the meaning of life?

I am sure most of us have been asking this existential question since young, and have yet to find a satisfying answer.

The following video provides 2 broad views:

1) Find/create your own meaning in life

2) Live a pointless life

Another interesting perspective on this issue:

Instead of asking what I can get from life, ask yourself what you give to life.

Best wishes. 

[auscent]

To make things better for others.

Edited May 1, 2023 by auscent

[IkuTube]

The fact that you have written this topic gives a purpose in itself.  The purpose is to provide a sense of belonging, of understanding and accepting, of finding meaning to why life happens as it is.  

Perhaps unconsciously, you want to find the answers that can provide a logic, or reason, so that you see the light to move forward.  Perhaps, deep within you, you want to  embrace the purpose to inspire your situations so as to make your way of life (more) bearable.  It is about the search to make things right, to give the sense of (better) purpose.

It is an unconscious effort to device a mindset towards an understanding of what life is.  Every time a mind starts to question, it is about addressing a purpose.  It is a subtle engagement where the mind wants to inspire for higher reason, for the reason for which motivation will lead to self serving and fulfillment.

And, likewise, the reason each one of us is contributing here is to provide the purpose of expression, of sharing perspectives.  It is about to feel valuable towards Life.  It is about to feel engaged, to feel about the ways of lives and putting aside any differences.

Life is often evolved around validation - big, small, consequential or not.  It is a natural process towards growth, towards giving a sense to life.  We are doing it, consciously or otherwise, to mete in the action of checking to provide for the meaning to life, i.e the purpose.

 

At the end of the day, does it matter to know the essence of life?  Will it make any difference not wanting to know it?  

Many philosophers believe that we find meaning through a sense of purpose, it makes life worthwhile.  It becomes a yardstick by which to judge our actions and it gives us a sense of control over the events in life.

Likewise, when we are to live without a meaning system, we would be lost in chaotic experiences.

 

 

[Steve5380]

5 hours ago, IkuTube said:

 

At the end of the day, does it matter to know the essence of life?  Will it make any difference not wanting to know it?  

Many philosophers believe that we find meaning through a sense of purpose, it makes life worthwhile.  It becomes a yardstick by which to judge our actions and it gives us a sense of control over the events in life.

Likewise, when we are to live without a meaning system, we would be lost in chaotic experiences.

 

 

You make very much sense.   But I think that we can also have a good life living "in autopilot".  By just practicing to suppress all negative emotions and not worrying about the future.  The TS may be torturing himself thinking that his life is not what it SHOULD be according to his standards.  Maybe he can attain more peace by forgetting about any standards and accepting his life as it is now.    This may free his mind to deal with the positive, and trust his positive mind to get him into a better situation.

[Steve5380]

18 hours ago, Guest Passerby said:

What is the meaning of life?

I am sure most of us have been asking this existential question since young, and have yet to find a satisfying answer.

The following video provides 2 broad views:

1) Find/create your own meaning in life

2) Live a pointless life

Another interesting perspective on this issue:

Instead of asking what I can get from life, ask yourself what you give to life.

Best wishes. 

 

Thank you for your best wishes.  The videos you posted can be interesting.

 

I am a very simple, simplistic person and I have found peace.  Thanks to realizing that IGNORANCE IS BLISS.

 

If a person rejects all beliefs and all meanings of life and becomes a nihilist,  this person is giving himself too much importance.  Why not recognize his IGNORANCE of any supernatural?   Some of the greatest persons in history have accepted their total ignorance and achieved peace this way.

 

So one rejects all religious doctrines?  This is a sign of a good mind.  But then, should one get obsessed finding other explanations, meanings of life?  This indicates some exaggerated trust that one COULD find these answers and their proof.  This is too high a self-opinion.   We should be modest and realize that WE DON'T KNOW.

 

Being agnostic and totally ignorant  opens up a world of possibilities, of speculations,  of ideas that ANYTHING could exist.  Reincarnation?  Why not?   A universal "spiritual essence" of which we all have some and to which we return?  Why not?    And since we cannot possibly know,  we don't need to struggle with finding answers.  Peace  

 

Then, our biggest issue could be:   what should I cook tomorrow?

[Guest Run Run Run!]

Follow what Forrest Gump did.  Run non-stop, day and night.

[robin]

On 5/1/2023 at 1:31 AM, Guest tm_ said:

Another sleepless night and i've been thinking how my life progressed for the past months. Got laid off from job. Lost my dog. I'm in bad debt. Still single. You may say i'm depressed. I think so too. My life is full of hardship. I can't think of any day that i'm happy. It is always a struggle. Day by day that i've been thinking why should I live this way no matter how i try to make myself better and comfortable, it is just sadness.

 

Sorry to hear what you are going through.  Life can be cruel, especially when we are fighting it alone.  I also went through a dark phase of my life, questioning the meaning of life and if it was worth living it.  There is a telegram group for Late Night Sleepers where currently, there are only less than 5 members and we share everything under the sky, jokes, our situations and struggles we are facing.  Feel free to join. 

 

https://t.me/+v31C7lszNzsyYTE1