this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2023
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When you get to the end of your life, old and tired, and you look back on all the things you did and time you spent, what will make you say: yes, I did well and it was all worth it?

Put another way, if you have an extra hour tomorrow with nothing planned, what could you do with yourself to later say: Iโ€™m glad I did that? What if you have an unplanned day? Or a week? Does how you use that time change? Would the choice of how to use that time be more or less deliberate, depending on how long you have? Does that choice define you as a person?

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[โ€“] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What's the point? In 100 years, everyone here now will be dead. Nothing we do really matters. Life is pointless.

[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That is the point. Do whatever you want because no one's gonna remember it anyway. Once I realised that, life because a bit more bearable.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Had the same realization here. But still, that was not enough to placate my feeling of the world being inadequate to my needs and desires. So I joined a progressive political party, partake in biweekly local party meetings, working groups and other odd gatherings. I also help with local projects like having cars banned from an inner city street for a day to repurpose the gained space into a children's playground with outdoor toys and stuff.

In short: take your anger of the world's senselessness and inadequacies and direct it into positive action. It really works (for me) to assuage the helplessness about my and humanity's situation in general as I actually am making a difference in the world by coordinating with likeminded people. It really gives you a very palpable and natural feeling of one's identity finally and actually making or having a some kind of "sense". For me it really was an epiphany on the level of like "this feels an order of magnitude more natural than all of my previous life experiences in school, uni, or work life." I feel like getting into local politics is more akin to discovering a whole new circle of friends who share the same goals as you, than it is just about making do with the work groups and desired outcomes you get assinged for in uni or at work.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

What a great thing to do! I think it's why a lot of people volunteer for causes and give their time and money to charity. Such a great way to directly see the positive impact you're having on the world.

[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life. Rabindranath Tagore

Do you think this makes any sense? If not, why not?