I find my life has no point currently.

[Rodafina]

Yeah, I planned a Saturday in Seattle. I even found a Thai place that serves pink soup, a Thai street delicacy that many places do not serve.

Looking forward to hearing about your adventure when you get back.

 

[Coxhere]

Looking forward to hearing about your adventure when you get back.

Ditto!

 

[JayCee]

Boy oh boy ,,most of the above positive suggestions do a good job of making great suggestions, and Love Thai Food must look up Pink Soup. But seriously ,if you can get away from screen time.. It will pay the best benefits, I feel . A physical task that you could develop an interest in . Could be a benefit . Or even if you need extra push, sign up for a class, for something physical that may benefit you. Or grow to be a side job. or just help people?

 

[Coxhere]

Boy oh boy ,,most of the above positive suggestions do a good job of making great suggestions, and Love Thai Food must look up Pink Soup. But seriously ,if you can get away from screen time.. It will pay the best benefits, I feel . A physical task that you could develop an interest in . Could be a benefit . Or even if you need extra push, sign up for a class, for something physical that may benefit you. Or grow to be a side job. or just help people?

Good suggestions, JayCee.

 

[Metalhead]

Looking forward to hearing about your adventure when you get back.

It looks like it might have to wait until a week from now. Freeway closures for road construction. I will go to the farmer's market instead, see some free live music, pick up some kombucha and some fresh produce, watch the people for a while, wave at every dog passing by.

 

[Rodafina]

It looks like it might have to wait until a week from now. Freeway closures for road construction. I will go to the farmer's market instead, see some free live music, pick up some kombucha and some fresh produce, watch the people for a while, wave at every dog passing by.

Dang it.
But a good backup plan.

 

[Matthias]

...I want to feel like I am a part of something larger than myself. I want a sense of direction. I want to feel like I am helping others in one way or another....

I think nearly everyone feels the same way. I know many experts consider this desire to be connected to something outside oneself to be a biological need. Throughout history, most people met this need through family. Before modern transportation, extended families often lived together or near each other so that most people always felt connected to others who loved them. I find that nothing comes close to the benefits of good relationships and rewarding social interactions. Studies have found that the happiest people had good, close relationships while depressed people tended to be alone and feel socially disconnected.

It's unfortunate that limited transportation makes it difficult for you to meet and interact with others. I too have found that TV, the Internet, and other non-social activities can't make me happy. I wish I had good advice to offer. I just wanted to say I understand, feel similarly, and hope things get better for you.

 

[JayCee]

It looks like it might have to wait until a week from now. Freeway closures for road construction. I will go to the farmer's market instead, see some free live music, pick up some kombucha and some fresh produce, watch the people for a while, wave at every dog passing by.

Excellent back up plan ....sounds lovely . Sorry on the Freeway..When younger had learned of the lovely past time of people watching. Found often, that I was afraid of people being anxious about my watching them. So often either dark or blue coloured glasses and a cup of coffee became part of the routine , for the watching part. And lovely ,you were able to add healthy food shopping and music,to your experience.

 

[Coxhere]

I think nearly everyone feels the same way. I know many experts consider this desire to be connected to something outside oneself to be a biological need. Throughout history, most people met this need through family. Before modern transportation, extended families often lived together or near each other so that most people always felt connected to others who loved them. I find that nothing comes close to the benefits of good relationships and rewarding social interactions. Studies have found that the happiest people had good, close relationships while depressed people tended to be alone and feel socially disconnected.

It's unfortunate that limited transportation makes it difficult for you to meet and interact with others. I too have found that TV, the Internet, and other non-social activities can't make me happy. I wish I had good advice to offer. I just wanted to say I understand, feel similarly, and hope things get better for you.

I was a sociology and urban studies undergrad major. I still remember that we spent a lot of time studying alienation. With capitalism and the bottom line being the almighty dollar, it's difficult to live in a Western country without having feelings of alienation and isolation. What I've found living in a small, Hispanic country like Ecuador is that alienation is less of a problem because the bottom line here is the people and not so much the almighty dollar. And to most of the Western world, Ecuador is a "third world country" even though we have universal health care and people can study in public universities whereby the government pays for tuition, books, room, and board. The only mandate is that college graduates promise to live and work in Ecuador for a minimum of three year after earning their college degree(s).

 

[Metalhead]

I had fun going out today then taking a nice nap in the afternoon when I got back home. I am going to cook some tacos for dinner then watch some movies. People were friendly at the Farmer's Market. The live music was great fun to watch and listen to. And once again, I avoided the mead vendor. $35 for a bottle of mead is pretty pricey anyway.

 

[Coxhere]

I had fun going out today then taking a nice nap in the afternoon when I got back home. I am going to cook some tacos for dinner then watch some movies. People were friendly at the Farmer's Market. The live music was great fun to watch and listen to. And once again, I avoided the mead vendor. $35 for a bottle of mead is pretty pricey anyway.

Is the Farmer's Market within walking distance or how did you get there?

 

[Metalhead]

It is only a mile and a half away from my house.

 

[JayCee]

Lolzzz...Mead Vendor.. ...My tolerance for alchohol is pretty low,, but mead, is hard to turn down sometimes . More power to you for having resilience ....Hope you had a lovely day ,inspite .. Getting out and fresh air all by itself can do very nice things for depressive states btw . Or so I have been told .

 

[Hypnalis]

I do not necessarily want to die but I have found ways to flirt with self destruction that I need to stop.

I feel like I have no aim, no purpose, no use to anybody. I want to feel like I am a part of something larger than myself. I want a sense of direction. I want to feel like I am helping others in one way or another.

Limited transportation makes this difficult.

I feel like there is more to life than my TV and the Internet, with all of its porn and its drama. I know I have just been coasting through life for a long while.

It sounds like you have a vision, but no clear objectives or plans.

Vision (There are other ways of saying this but "vision" is concise

A famous example of a vision is MS-guy's: "A PC on every desktop, and MS software on every PC"

Important: He never planned to build PC's. That was the expected environment, but it was far from true at that time.
The point: you can't plan without an opinion about the future.

It's ok (actually good) to have a plan of sorts at this level, but it will be, of necessity rather vague.

Plans.
Start by splitting into Strategic and Tactical. Again, there are other ways of saying that, and other ways to "slice and dice" planning. Two "layers" below "visionary" is a convenient starting point, and often sufficient.

A strategic plan might be thought of as defining a direction that can be followed, and defining some milestones.

A tactical plan can be seen as the steps needed to get to the next milestone.
More generally, IRL there may well be several tactical plans being performed in parallel. So you split them up carefully, because at this level you want to turn the plans into a sequence of specific, bounded activities.

Prioritizing sequence, activities and timing.
At some point you have to choose one activity to perform now.

This is one of mankind's great challenges of course, and it's very easy to get distracted, diverted, or discouraged.

But look at it this way: the only way evolution managed to keep humanity going is with powerful urges and significant discomfort.
Even breathing is somewhat voluntary, and has to be forced (weirdly, it's triggered by internal CO2 levels rather than low oxygen levels, but evolution (like individuals) works on effectiveness, not logic

So that last part of this: actually getting things done means sometimes going against your nature.
Not performing your plan will often be the easy choice.

But if you have a plan, it works against avoidance, distraction, and displacement activities.
It's not magic though - it's called "work" for a reason.

 

[Matthias]

I was a sociology and urban studies undergrad major. I still remember that we spent a lot of time studying alienation. With capitalism and the bottom line being the almighty dollar, it's difficult to live in a Western country without having feelings of alienation and isolation. What I've found living in a small, Hispanic country like Ecuador is that alienation is less of a problem because the bottom line here is the people and not so much the almighty dollar. And to most of the Western world, Ecuador is a "third world country" even though we have universal health care and people can study in public universities whereby the government pays for tuition, books, room, and board. The only mandate is that college graduates promise to live and work in Ecuador for a minimum of three year after earning their college degree(s).

Does this increased social connection translate into increased happiness?

 

[aubrx]

I do not necessarily want to die but I have found ways to flirt with self destruction that I need to stop.

I feel like I have no aim, no purpose, no use to anybody. I want to feel like I am a part of something larger than myself. I want a sense of direction. I want to feel like I am helping others in one way or another.

Limited transportation makes this difficult.

I feel like there is more to life than my TV and the Internet, with all of its porn and its drama. I know I have just been coasting through life for a long while.

I have grown far too comfortable in my miserable existence. That is my own fault. Only I can walk away from living like this.

I empathise with this post like you wouldn't believe. Transportation limits are such a big barrier that people don't really talk about outside of "just use public transport". Does not solve the problem when the infrastructure is not there. It is excessively difficult to find a sense of purpose and self worth when we are bombarded with societal messaging that enforces competition, individualism, and compliance within a system that destroys us.

However I do not agree that you have been coasting through life. You have your own struggles that have prevented you from achieving the fulfilling life that you envision for yourself. We live in a very sick society that benefits from our misery. It's not surprising that many of us fail to thrive in these conditions.

 

[Coxhere]

Does this increased social connection translate into increased happiness?

I don't know that there's been any scientific research correlating universal health care and "free" college education with happiness. I would guess, however, that there'd be a lessening of alienation and isolation. On the other hand, in socialist countries like Sweden and Norway, there's higher incidents per capita of suicides. Are suicides related to a lack of happiness? I don't know, Matthias.

 

[Mary Terry]

I don't know that there's been any scientific research correlating universal health care and "free" college education with happiness. I would guess, however, that there'd be a lessening of alienation and isolation. On the other hand, in socialist countries like Sweden and Norway, there's higher incidents per capita of suicides. Are suicides related to a lack of happiness? I don't know, Matthias.

There's a new documentary movie that was just released named "Folktales". It was filmed in Norway above the Arctic Circle and it's about "unhappy" teenagers who spend a year living in the cold north, learning to survive on their own, learning to work with and rely on other people, learning to take care of sled dogs and relying on the dogs who, in turn, rely on the humans, and the positive benefits they gain from that "gap" year after high school. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

The higher suicide rates in northern latitudes probably have more to do with alcoholism and perpetual darkness for months every year than with free health care or educations.

 

[Coxhere]

There's a new documentary movie that was just released named "Folktales". It was filmed in Norway above the Arctic Circle and it's about "unhappy" teenagers who spend a year living in the cold north, learning to survive on their own, learning to work with and rely on other people, learning to take care of sled dogs and relying on the dogs who, in turn, rely on the humans, and the positive benefits they gain from that "gap" year after high school. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

The higher suicide rates in northern latitudes probably have more to do with alcoholism and perpetual darkness for months every year than with free health care or educations.

I agree with your post and I thought about clinical depression being caused by an absence of sunlight. Hadn't thought about alcohol abuse and alcoholism though. Do you know if the use of mind altering chemicals in northern latitudes is higher than in areas of the world where there are more alternatives, choices, in "lifestyles?" I just now remember having read how high the alcoholism rate was in the northern latitudes of Russia. I'd read how Russians would become alcoholics from drinking their Russian vodka that was so available.

Also, from having read your post, I wonder if there is any data that shows if the rates of suicide in Norway, above the Arctic Circle, are worse than in the lower latitudes of Norway such as in Oslo. All of a sudden, I also wonder about suicides in northern Alaska as opposed to suicide rates in southern Alaska, such as in Anchorage and Juneau.