+1 to Sagarin's advice above. Loving wife, kids, a job that will pay the bills and allow you to spend time with your family as your kids grow up. Do that right and you'll have a fulfilling rewarding life. I've been lucky enough to live it and can vouch for it. I would have died of boredom, narcissism, and an over-preoccupation with career if I hadn't met my wife and gone this route. Heed Sagarin - it's great advice.
sdfjn;lsajf wrote:
I've seen several mentions of trying a psychedelic drug. Something like LSD would be interesting to try, not to do drugs or to feel good, but for the purpose of finding yourself. LSD will take you on a spiritual (not religious, spiritual) journey which will make you appreciate life, others, yourself, love, etc. But keep in mind to be careful about not getting caught with it.
In my college days I experimented with LSD, 25i-NBOMe, NN-DMT, 5-meo-DMT, 4-ACO-DMT, shrooms, you name it.
They didn't change my life like some people make it out to be, but I have to admit it was just REALLY fu*king cool, and honestly the most fun I've ever had. So maybe that's what makes it life changing, but don't go in expecting to find the meaning of life or meet God or something.
Ah, that most dread disease - youthful existential angst...
Maybe without the support structure of college, you've just discovered that you're a really boring person?
Why not train for races again? Are you still running?
Plan a trip away.
I know exactly how u feel.
Suggestions find an aewesome hobby. I chose rock climbing and have been pretty focused on it the last 4 years. All my best friends now are climbers. Really fun to have a community that shares interests.
Save a ton of money. Don't blow it on useless crap. U save hard and invest smart and u can be financially free by 30-35.
Learn cool skills. Car maintenance, languages, home remodeling, etc. never stop learning.
I always have a big trip on the horizon. That gives u that hope to the future.
Most importantly remember non of this matters. The world will keep on spinning.
Ps I would give relationship advice but that is so individualized. Just don't marry too early cause u think ur suppose to.
Life can be extremely heavy and emotions can weigh us down, usually when we're alone. I am often the worst thinker when I am alone and I tend to make wrong choices when I'm alone. Sometimes being alone breeds misery. Invest yourself in others and in community. Whatever compassion you have, try to give that an outlet and it will provide you with worth.
If you are alone in a hotel room feeling the weight, remember that they usually have a beacon...
The last two years I went through a lot of what you went through. Here's just a few things that helped me.
- Read books: After so long in school, I got out of the habit of reading for fun. No I read different books all the time and it helps keep things interesting.
- Decide what you want to do about running: Either keep training hard and go for a PR, or let go of your running ego and enjoy other activities.
- Do you live at home? If so make sure you still get out with friends. Use it as an opportunity to spend some quality time with parents and younger siblings.
- Learn how to cook. This is an impressive skill that will serve you well with the ladies ;-)
- Keep on keepin on and sooner or later you will find what you are looking for.
projects needed wrote:
I am not complaining or looking for sympathy. I realize I have things pretty good. I am just having a hard time feeling any sort of excitement about life. It doesn't seem like I have anything to really ever look forward to, or anything to feel passionate about. In school, there were always projects, grades, new classes, etc, as well as races and upcoming seasons to look forward to. Now that I've been out of school a while (about 7 months) and have a steady job, it just seems like every day is more or the less the same, that I'm not working towards anything. I'm finding it kind of monotonous. I'd like to change things, but I'm not really sure what to do.
What do you do to keep yourself excited about life? What projects do you give yourself to keep you motivated and engaged?
You should take great, great, great comfort in the fact that the greatest minds, the greatest moralists, the most incisive intellects of history, have all struggled with precisely the same thing: the absence of purpose in contemporary society. You have so many friends with whom to take comfort in literature:
The most influential poem of the 20th century was T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland." Read it. It is about recognizing the vapidity of modern life.
Read Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville. It's protagonist sounds exactly like you. How pointless is it to slave away at pointless tasks while the burning questions of the universe remain unaddressed? Remain out there -burning.
Read Huck Finn, On the Road by Kerouac. Then - only after - read Rabbit Run by John Updike. Compare the two. Read a little Nietzche, but not too much. Excerpts from "Beyond Good and Evil" will be enough. Try to read Emerson - if just one essay, make it Self Reliance - but there is no guarantee you are a great reader, and you have to be a great reader to appreciate Emerson.
Find what it is you love in life and pursue it. It's that simple. It will not lead to a secure job, likely. You will not be richer than your yuppie friends. You won't buy a house in your 20's. Instead, you'll be happy.
Read The Razors Edge by Somerset Maughm.
Most men lead lives of quite desperation.
Thoreau
I don't have time today to read all the responses, but here are mine:
1) Pick a goal race and train for it.
2) Volunteer coach somewhere...or even get paid if you can, but the goal is the position, not the cash.
3) Find a different career (possibly). Sad fact is that for most people, a career is just a way to make money.
4) Set some MONEY goals...pay off debt, save for a house, plan to never get into debt again, build up big retirement accounts...I know this isn't for everyone, but it IS a form of goal setting that is ultimately FINANCIALLY rewarding.
pat robertson should shut up wrote:
Lol...this is very true. Got a girlfriend? Relationships make life interesting. Life is about spend time with those you love...family ( if you happen to live yours), friends and significant others.
I agree. Also I love to travel, seek adventure, explore. Visit foreign countries. Last year I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, hiked in Patagonia. I also combine my travel with love of outdoor adventure. I pick a race (7 miles-15 miler)in some place that interests me, Sedona half marathon, Cutthroat Classic in the Northern Cascades. It's a big beautiful world. Go out and get it!
Dude join some softball teams! I am playing on 3 this summer and having a lot of fun. Team loves having me cause I am a "Freak" cause I am fast running the bases and I can catch balls in the outfield. Go to your local town association and they should have a sign up page for "alternate players" You list your e-mail and stuff. Teams always need extra guys.
READ "INTO THE WILD" !!!!!. Then, get out an see the world.
You are young, healthy, and ambitious. How could you sit at a job you don't like and waste the best years of your life?
Do something crazy, this is your absolute best chance, live your f-in dream while you can.
Just read the book, trust me.
Wickerman wrote:
Werner Herzog once said he doesn't understand why Americans believe they have "the right to happiness." In his view, no one has the right to happiness.
It's hard to argue with him. He took the Cardinals to (3) World Series.
Get a dog...Get a Dog...Get a Dog
Welcome to life,
I am 31 years old married with 2 kids and work a job that completely sucks. Try being college educated and in the military enlisted because you did not get offered a commission when you entered the service and was not to familiar with one either. Talk about no joy in what you do I am living proof buddy but everyday I wake up follow directions and make sure I get a paycheck to feed my family and my self. I agree college was exciting the races I was a 4:04 miler and a 29:00 10,000m runner. I went from feeling like a hero to a complete zero, but after gallons and gallons of beer I realized this is life. College is fun chasing women, racing, and an overall party that is not real life. I agree with what someone said there is a support group we meet everyday at the bar!!!!
You should fall in love. Helps pass the time pretty nicely.
runner girl wrote:
Please read this:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/07/how-to-land-your-kid-in-therapy/308555/
Thanks for posting this. Very interesting article.