Do you think there is any point to life?

I keep wondering why my life turned out to be so hopeless and miserable. Did I do something in a past life and this is my punishment? Is it bad karma? But then karma has never made sense to me. If you murder someone, and karma decides you then need to be murdered to pay for that, it requires someone else to commit murder so you get your karma. The cycle would never end.

Is the New Age idea that we choose our lives before birth true? Do we choose everything that will happen to us in advance so we can learn something from it? Or is that just cope?

Are we just evolved pondslime who mutated into humans by chance and none of this means anything?

Why is life so incredibly awful for so many people?

38 comments

I don’t think there is a point or greater meaning to life. I think that life is what you make of it. The point of life for me is to seek love, passion, comradery, and fulfillment while I’m here, and to revel in those things where I find them. And on top of that, to help those around me to find the same level of meaning within our relationships and experiences. The meaning of life is to live it as best as possible, and to share empathy and compassion with others to help them do the same.
- I think that life is what you make of it.
  I really despise this phrase. I don't agree that life is what you make it. In many cases, life is what happens to you. I'm suffering immense effects of cancer treatment, crippled from a stroke, in immense pain every day and have multiple other medical issues, unable to work and reliant on charity while trying to win a benefit appeal. In this state how am I supposed to make a good life? It puts all the blame on me for not trying hard enough when I already try very hard just to get through each day. Conversely people I went to school with who had rich parents with good connections now have top, well paying jobs just because their parents opened doors for them. Their life isn't what they made it either, it was all handed to them on a plate.
  
  I agree with everything you’re saying here. The material conditions you’re born into are not in your control and I don’t want to imply that. Hardship is not your fault. What I meant by that phrase is the meaning of life is your own decision to make. It looks different for everybody, we all find fulfillment from different sources. I didn’t mean to imply anything untoward towards you or to dismiss your struggles and I’m sorry it came off that way
  
  It's not my decision to make though. I don't get to make any decisions. I have no control over my own life. I don't get to choose where I live, that's dictated entirely by what I can afford. I don't get to choose how I spend my days, if I did I'd be out hiking in nature, not trapped indoors due to disability. Whether I even get to eat or not is dictated by whether people reply to my mutual aid posts. I don't even get to choose whether I exist, I already made a su1c1d£ attempt which failed miserably. With all this, what meaning can my life have? I wanted to fight for animal rights but I'm too ill and disabled to participate in that and have no money to contribute. My life is a total waste and there is nothing I can do about it. There is no meaning to be found in it. There is no way for me to get any fulfilment.
- And I’m sorry for the hardships that you’ve faced in your life. You don’t deserve them, and I know how institutional neglect and abuse can make bad circumstances worse. I hope that things get better for you, and I wish I had stronger words of encouragement to help you along. Solidarity friend

38 comments