Questioning
 

Does anyone else out there feel stuck? I mean, like this world is missing something really important, but you can't quite put your finger on it? I feel like there's a battle that I'm missing, like there's a struggle that I'm unwittingly on the wrong side of. I really wish I could tell what was really important. Why should I be a success? Why should I study hard and work hard? To make lots of money? And do what with it? But then, is it right to be a slacker? Isn't it wrong to waste potential? Or is using potential for profit a waste in itself? What am I supposed to be? What am I supposed to do? Why am I here!? Argh... I guess these are the classic questions that people have been trying to answer since the creation of man, and I should probably just get used to them being unanswered, but I can't. I feel like I'm stuck in the Matrix or something. Foolishly unaware of reality. I hate to say that a little cause I've fel this way since long before the Matrix was out, but the metaphor fits my emotions so perfectly (guess that's why it's a hit). I want to take the red pill. I want to get out of here. Am I alone?

Ok, spare this incredibly cheap shot at your expense entirely... but

I think the pill you wanna take is the one that says "prozac"

Seriously... life is a lot better than you're giving it credit for.

just dont kill your family and try to tell the judge that this is really all the matrix, so its not real, it doesn't work.

Eldaire, I TOTALLY get where you're coming from. I can't really put my finger on it, either, but I feel like I was born into the middle of something that's so much bigger than me, a struggle that's amorphous and everywhere and so complex, and I can't entirely see the outline of it. I think it's called "the human condition." Maybe not all humans have gone through this in all eras, but I think in this society at this time there's this confusion of spiritual aspirations and material aspirations and personal aspirations and they're all sort of warring with each other, and if you stop to think about it for very long you get dizzy. It's very tempting to just drift along and not see the patterns that push you this way and that, but the fact is most of us are not, to a large extent, fully self-determining (if that's possible) or even self-aware. There's a book called 'Foucault for Beginners' that's a pretty good intro to theories of power and discourse, and if you like it you might want to read some more of Foucault's works.

I think what's at the heart of your (and my) confusion is "how to live a good life." The trap is to look outside yourself for a definition of "the good life." We're told to be materially successful; we're told to pursue professional fulfilment and 'self-actualization'; we're told to be self-denying and anti-materialistic; we're told to pursue spiritual enlightenment. There are all of these contradictory messages from culture and counter-culture (two sides of the same hand, or at least two symbiotes sucking the life from each other), and you can't possible satisfy all of the standards that you would set for yourself if you let yourself be dicated by external criteria for personal success. The real challenge is to find the still voice inside yourself - not the chattering monkey mind that tells you you SHOULD do this or that - but the intuition that resonates to a particular path.

PM me if you'd like to chat further.

wow, nice reply Lurkette.

I think the type of society we live in, capitalistic, has a huge influence on how we "feel" we need to be and what we perceive as a successful life. I have a great family, food and shelter, and love. Do I truly need more to be successful? It is a good question.

Thanks for the post.

You people are all crazy. Trust me, I know. :crazy:

Just kiddin' I've felt that way for a long time. It's just life.

I don't like to sound trite but

Welcome To Life

If you had the answers would you be any happier? Where would the next adventure come from?

I like stumbling along and learning from every experience.

Dude, welcome to life as we know it.

This is the way I have always felt, unfortunatly I have never found an answer and I doubt I ever will.
As I am an atheist things, sometimes, tend to be even more bleak since I don't have the mental crutch called religion to lean on.
The only way I can go on living is by exploring the complexity of this world. I want to know everything and how everything works so I read, study and think. That makes me happy and almost content with life.

What came first, mental illness or abstract thinking?
Our minds capacity is a great asset but also our greatest curse.

I'm not trying to make you feel better with this message, in my eyes that is not possible, I just wanted to tell you that you are not alone in this line of thought.

Take care and enjoy the short time of life you've been given.

Speaking from experience? :-P