Not for a lack of trying, I assure you. It's just that no matter how hard I try, my mind won't accept it.

The thought of life and existence being ultimately meaningless (Something else my mind fights against, despite knowing it's true) is too much of a blow to my psyche to overcome and look at light-heartedly.

I'm just so desperate to have a purpose and meaning in my life, but at the same time I can't sincerely believe in any religion or afterlife. I try to "live in the moment" and "be happy and make others happy", but it just isn't enough. I need something more.

Edit: Thank you everyone for their responses so far, I do read them all. They give me something to ponder and think about, maybe even leading to a solution.

  • AssortedBiscuits [they/them]
    ·
    3 months ago

    "Does life have meaning?" is a meaningless question and the answer to that meaningless question is a meaningless answer. How so? Let me ask a set of questions:

    • What is the consequence of life having meaning?

    • What is the consequence of life not having meaning?

    • What is the meaningful difference between the two answers?

    Personally, my answer to all three is "nothing."

    I'm just so desperate to have a purpose and meaning in my life, but at the same time I can't sincerely believe in any religion or afterlife. I try to "live in the moment" and "be happy and make others happy", but it just isn't enough. I need something more.

    Your duty in life is to make the world a better life. It's to leave the world in a better state than when you entered it. You don't have to be the architect of some world-historic event like a socialist revolution. It can be much simpler things like feeding ducks at a nearby park or buying groceries for your aging grandparents or refusing to vote guilty in a jury. Your duty to leave the world in a better state when you leave the world can be fulfilled through individual acts as well as fulfilled through being part of an organization, be it a church, club, mutual aid network, or revolutionary party.

    Don't be suckered into pondering on the alleged meaning or meaningless of life. There's much work to be done to make the world a better place, to right what is currently wrong, to beautify what is currently ugly, to feed what is currently starving, and so on.