Life

[gremcint]

What's the point?
I'm not suicidal, not even remotely but I can't help but wonder what the point is.

I'm trying to find a summer job right now in a town with a crapload of people looking as well, you just apply and apply and never hear back. even if I find work when I graduate in two years I have to do this all over again but on top of that because there are likely no programmer jobs here in peterborough then I'll have to move away and leave everyone I know.

I hate this, I this stress of finding a job I hate worthless I feel after never hearing back on all of these applications.

People say money can't buy happiness, but every single problem in my life and my parent's lives could be solved by money, maybe that lottery ticket I bought will actually win and I can get out of this cycle but I doubt it.

[Rapscallion]

Point to life? Heh - attempts to work that one out have resulted in wars and mythology.

Life just is. Enjoy it.

Rapscallion

[Ghel]

The point of life is to live. Each of us has to figure out for ourselves what that means. As long as you don't forget that your life affects other lives, then do what makes you happy.

[Fryk]

I thought the meaning of life was 42

[crashhelmet]

The others are right. You need to find what your "purpose in life" is. May take some soul searching, but you'll find it.

As for programming? Grab contract jobs. Apply on Monster.com, etc and check craigslist. Build up the portfolio, so to speak. Then do what my best friend and programming mentor does. Start writing apps that benefit you or do what you wish other apps would. Turn around and do something with it. He's turned a software updating app into a company that is now owned by HP and created a spamkiller that's been bought out by some company in France. He struggled for a little bit, but he's pretty much set for life now.

CH

[Plaidman]

Point of life? To suffer as much pain and misery as possible, and hope whatever good you do will at least lessen someone else's pain. Have hope and dreams of doing stuff you wish to do and do what one can to make those dreams come true. Finally hope you can share the last moments of your life with someone else who loves you as much as you love them, and if you have kids make them have less pain then you have and hope they can make themselves and others happier then had they not met them.

Basically, life is just meant mostly to be in pain. No-one is capable of being happy 24/7. No one on this entire planet has not suffered some kind of pain. Some have less pain then others, which isn't fair but hey, life sucks. Period.

As for the money bit? Yeah. Maybe money can take away all your bills. BUT, it's been proven that even large amounts of money can still cause pain. People who won the lottery have been known to have been kidnapped for ransom. I read one story where a homeless man who won lottery was very giving with his money. You need bills, he pay. Want some food, he'll pay. He wanted to HELP others.

Guess what happened? One his /girlfriends/ got her real boyfriend to murder the man so they could have all the money. It just wasn't enough for her to share the wealth. Thankfully they both got caught and currently serving time.

Yeah, money can buy happiness. But it does bring greedy people out. You will be asked for help. You'll get sob stories every day. Sometimes your guilt will make you feel the need to help. Maybe you won't, but that's when people will get aggressive for the money. You start trying to find ways to protect not only your money, but yourself. Your family may be at risk. Money is just brings out the worst in people. It does cause more stress then one would think, especally towards those who get large amounts quickly without learning how to save it or use it.

I read a book once on a study. Several homeless people were given LARGE amounts of money, like I think 100,000 dollars, tax free, to do whatever they want with it.

You'd think they'd use it correctly, right? Nope. Most of them spent the money within a month or so. They bought cars. They bought friends cars. They bought huge houses. They belived that the relativly small amount would last them the rest of their life. It didn't.

[Kimmik]

Basically, life is just meant mostly to be in pain. No-one is capable of being happy 24/7. No one on this entire planet has not suffered some kind of pain. Some have less pain then others, which isn't fair but hey, life sucks. Period.

I am sorry that you have suffered hun.. but for me.. I would not trade away an ounce of pain that I have suffered.. because it is part of what makes me... well me.

I could have sworn that I had posted.. but meh.. I will write what I thought I wrote...

The purpose of life is simple to be... to make a difference.. and it doesnt have to be like the cure for cancer.. for example.. After my son died in my arms.. I went back to the McDonald house.. numb feeling like life was a pile of shit... a young mother hugged me crying for my loss telling me how sorry she was and omg how awful i must be feeling.. She was at the House because her young son had a brain tumor that had already robbed him of his sight. At that moment I realized I was the lucky one... my fight was over.. there was no more waiting for that call... she was there so they could try one last hail mary attempt before her son lost his fight..

Standing there crying I felt a small hand in mine.. I knelt down and looked at the little boy.. and he said something that will always be with me.. 'when i go to heaven ill watch him for you dont cry" in that moment I discovered the meaning of life for me... It is not what I have or have not.. It is how I interact with those around me.. how I touch their lives even for a moment. I dont know if the child lived or if his fight is over... but that little child.. was wise beyond his years... and in a brief second he made me realize that no matter what happens to me in life it is the journey that is important.. and what you do or did.. that matter.. not who had the most toys.

[joe hx]

Circular reasoning quote: "The point of life is to make life have a point."

[Ghel]

I think the point you're getting at, Plaid, is that money might make you happy temporarily, but it won't last.

At the bank, I've seen about a dozen people receive (at various times) large sums of money, usually as insurance settlements. I've seen people go through $60,000 in under 6 months. That's more than I make in 4 years. Do you think a single one of them owned their home after that? No. Do you think any of them were debt-free afterwards? No.

One memorable case was a local fellow who was injured at work. We think drugs were involved, but apparently his work couldn't prove that. He received a settlement of around $80,000, which he deposited at my bank. He put half of it in a savings account in only his name, and the other half in an account for him and his wife. It didn't matter - it was all gone in less than a year. He bought high-end snowmobiles for himself and his buddy, with full riding suits. He bought a new car. He didn't buy a house for his wife and daughter to live in (and around here, you can buy a NICE house for $80,000). After the money ran out, he got busted selling drugs to pay the rent.

So, yeah, you need enough money to live on, but no amount of money is going to make you happy, especially if you squander it.

[protege]

42...that's all I have to say.

[Plaidman]

I am sorry that you have suffered hun.. but for me.. I would not trade away an ounce of pain that I have suffered.. because it is part of what makes me... well me.

I've thought that myself before. If I hadn't been bullied, would I be so antibully?

If I haven't been picked on for my looks, would I only see the outer beauty of people and not the true character? I don't know. Likely not.

But I do agree with you. Point of life, is to make it for others not to suffer if you can.

I won't go to Heaven, even if I did belive in it. But I can at least try to make others not suffer if I can.

[Rageaholic]

I'm in a similar position to the OP. Can't get any job, feel like I have no marketable skills, and am still in college (and sick to death of it). If I could just win the lottery, I would be out of this hell hole, and if I won enough, I could help other people (or at least provide some temperary happiness for them). I know, the odds are shit, but it's nice to think about.

I think everyone should just do what they want with their life as long as it isn't affecting others. People need to find their own happiness and stop buying into this idea that there is only one path to happiness (be it religious beliefs, a certain career path, or any other fantasy the media tries to throw at us). It's hard, but I learned to stop listening to people telling me "BUT YOU SHOULD BE HAPPY LOLOLOLOL!!". Just because something makes someone else happy, doesn't mean it's going to make me happy. Everyone is different, so this one size fits all solution to life is false. If my life choices aren't affecting someone, than they should shut their piehole and let me live MY life, not their life.

[jackfaire]

All I can tell you is that for me life is about learning. Not necessarily book learning but keeping my eyes open looking around and seeing what there is to see and having a good time while doing it. Hell I am a life tourist participating but not taking it too damn seriously. One of my favorite quotes is the following.

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body—but rather a skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘ Wow, what a ride!’ ” "

[BlaqueKatt]

“We are visitors on this planet. We are here for ninety or one hundred years at the very most. During that period, we must try to do something good, something useful, with our lives. If you contribute to other people’s happiness, you will find the true goal, the true meaning of life.”

H.H. The 14th Dalai Lama

[Boozy]

I'm not suicidal, not even remotely but I can't help but wonder what the point is.

Let me guess - you're in your early twenties?

I can't say it will get better, in the sense that you're never really going to figure it all out. But at some point you'll stop caring so much.

I don't mean for that to sound nihilistic. It's actually a good thing. When we're young and starting out, we spend an exhorbitant amount of time thinking about the future. We have to, because we need to plan our lives to some extent at that age. The problem is that it leads to all sorts of questions like, "What's the point of all this, anyway?"

Once your life becomes a little more settled, you'll be able to start living in the present and enjoy the rewards of all your planning.

I don't know what the "point" of life is, but I'm comfortable and happy. I'm good with that.