I was out having dinner with my girlfriend and her parents today, and for no apparent reason it struck me just how meaningless our day-to-day lives are. We sit and discuss the new iPhone and debate if it's worth the price or not, or if her psychology teacher has racist tendencies or not, but very little of value ever comes out over dinner. Come to think of it, very little of value ever comes out of talking about anything. To me, at least, this shows that the lives of the people I spend so much time with are utterly uninteresting when my brother having removed his braces becomes something that is deemed an interesting subject of conversation.
It's not that I think that my life is much more interesting - on the contrary, with all the time I spend at practice, my life is more repetitive than most, but I think that relatively few people have lives that can be considered truly interesting. It just strikes me as wrong that others would care about such trivial and, ultimately, uninteresting things, instead of striving to discuss something of value. There are millions of questions that remain unanswered, questions that if solved could be of much greater value than anything my girlfriend's father has ever really done, but instead we get stuck on my brother having removed his braces. Perhaps I'm too tired - I think I am - but I've been staring at the computer screen for half an hour and I still can't seem to wrap my head around it, and I ended up having to vent the frustration somewhere.
I don't know, it just seems so... Pointless. I feel small. It's not a feeling I'm used to - normally, I'm very down-to-earth and sensible, and I'm not used to thinking about stuff like this. I just feel like, I don't know, there's something I'm missing. Some crucial piece of the puzzle that I'm missing. But yeah, I think I'm tired.
While thoughts of magnificence and wonder and doom and destruction seem to be vastly more significant than the small things in this world (and indeed, these thoughts are important), you must not forget that we do live in this world, not in the clouds that our thoughts soar to in a moment's notice. Find joy in the small things in life, because they are parts of your life and not insignificant just because of their size. Sometimes you must spend time thinking of life and death and afterlives and God and hell and science and technology and medicine and politics, and sometimes you must spend time being amazed at how a little child struggles to walk.
Hmm, that's some tasty food for thought. Guess that's what I'm gonna be discussing over dinner tomorrow
I don't know what to tell you to make you feel better, it's like talking about death... Maybe you just need to see some kitten pictures and go on with your life
your just going into a phase with your emotions. Everyone has that multiple time re occuring in there life. Just hang in there eventually you will feel alot more stable.
what has more value to my grandma, Curiosity landing in Mars or winning a $100 bingo game? I'd say the latter will be much more memorable to her and has more value not just in terms of monetary compensation but of personal satisfaction.
We all end up at the same destination, what changes is the way we get there. It happens to me a lot, and the more I think about it the more it makes sense, but then I remember Im alive and that Im the only one out of 10000000 sperm that got to be. You might be part of the normal grind, but appreciate that ur alive, and enjoy every second of the small things. You never know when it might change. Just enjoy the time, everyone goes through phases. Just gotta live through it.
Life is pretty boring, it's true, and most of us talk about shit that doesn't matter, but that only reminds me how lucky I am: to live in a country where people are hypnotized by TV and corporations and ignore big questions and big problems. I could be in the middle east, or Africa, or Brazil, or in a completely different era of history, and been fighting just for a meal, killed by US Drones, caught the Black Death, or never been born at all. That thought is even more depressing, admitting that we are contributing to global problems and retardation of intelligent exchange, but I still consider myself lucky to have these kinds of problems and thoughts.
I used to wonder what the point of life was. I thought there should've been a purpose. Now I think purpose is inherant in existance, because of what it is to be human. As soon as you have preference, that implies purpose. In terms of finding a point to life though, I would say do what interests you, not necessarily what makes you happy. People can't be happy all the time or their life isn't interesting or fulfilling. That's just what I think though, other people may have different ways they see life, I don't think my way is the best approach for everyone by any means.
Each person values different things in life. What you may value may seem meaningless to me, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try to understand how you view those things.
On September 23 2012 10:51 Torte de Lini wrote: I've had this happen a lot. What's the point of arguing or differentiating opinions when it doesn't change anything.
Maybe the perspective needs some work. Maybe, instead of trying to change the opinions of others, we ought to instead actively seek out reason to change our own.
On September 23 2012 10:51 Torte de Lini wrote: I've had this happen a lot. What's the point of arguing or differentiating opinions when it doesn't change anything.
Maybe the perspective needs some work. Maybe, instead of trying to change the opinions of others, we ought to instead actively seek out reason to change our own.
The point being that both opinions just seek out the convincing of the other or even by your perspective, beneficially the opinionated.
Doesn't change the outcome of the typical disucssion topics
On September 23 2012 10:04 wei2coolman wrote: Fun is the point. Do stuff that's fun. Rather heathenish, but it's worked for me so far.
Nice and simple at least; I like it ^^
On September 23 2012 11:42 MountainDewJunkie wrote: Life is pretty boring, it's true, and most of us talk about shit that doesn't matter, but that only reminds me how lucky I am: to live in a country where people are hypnotized by TV and corporations and ignore big questions and big problems. I could be in the middle east, or Africa, or Brazil, or in a completely different era of history, and been fighting just for a meal, killed by US Drones, caught the Black Death, or never been born at all. That thought is even more depressing, admitting that we are contributing to global problems and retardation of intelligent exchange, but I still consider myself lucky to have these kinds of problems and thoughts.
That's a very good point, actually. I hadn't looked at it from that perspective, thanks.
On September 23 2012 12:02 DKR wrote: Don't be with a girlfriend you describe as uninteresting would be a start on the road to lifelong happiness
It's not that I think she is uninteresting, quite the opposite, it just strikes me as dull and boring that most people, Cornelia included, would care about so small and utterly insignificant things when there is so much more out there to talk about, and to do. She is free to care about what she wants, I'll love her either way, but there is something about it that strikes me as wrong.
On September 23 2012 13:20 rogzardo wrote: life is meaningless. kill yourself or get over it.
i tend to drink beer
Seeing as I don't drink alcohol or do drugs, getting over emotions like these becomes a little tougher because I can't just drink and forget it. I'll get over it eventually, though.
Well thought out blog "Zealously"(adverb as a name eh?).
I like what Birdie said. It's important to remember that the imagination can dream up possibilities that are not compatible with reality. Your imagination might dream up a vague notion of a perfect day.. the image will combine aspects of things you enjoy doing but for me, its never SPECIFIC and therefore it can't become reality exactly. For example, a friend will say "i wanna do SOMETHING" and i say "k, what?" and he's like "something fun, i don't know; theres nothing to do. This city sucks." So, essentially he wishes he could transport to Las Vegas with a lot of money. WHat I mean to illustrate with this is that theres really nothing he wants to do, he has just dreamed up an impossible possibility with his imagination. (oxymoron?)
I had the same epiphany as you. Its astounding to understand "hey, we're all going to die and yet... we always think about very artificial miniscule things. Money? a robot day dream of a perfect beautiful woman and a nice car?? what the fuck does that help my true being?? my vessel with the freedom to wander space time, perceive colours and art and music and yet... these "robot day dreams" somehow seem important to me and my loved ones??
I think the answer is that most of us are afraid of what really matters to us. The part of us that yearns for real connection, for truth, seems to be blocked up by something?? What is this fake part of us that thinks success is happiness and the small things are really going to affect our lives?? it is some mistake.. I think the current culture is some what of a failure but i do not wan to hate my forefathers. there have been many great men and women who have done what they can for us. My parents taught me some wrong things but what i like to remember is that we are all just trying to be free. free....
"like a bird on a wire like a drunk in a midmight choire i have tried in my way to be free" -Leonard Cohen's bird on the wire. This song explains how i felt when i acknowledged the truth that things are not as good as they could be but that we have all tried our damndest
To play my part, i will drink less coffee and control myself when i get angry over small things.
Zealously, let me give you an unpopular answer here.
Your life is not meaningless. If it were, if it were really pointless, when the going gets tough, why not just end it? Why bother to sacrifice to do what is good and right?
One guy says “Fun is the point.” What if you grow up in Africa and are an AIDS orphan? What if you are a young girl kidnapped into the sex trade? What if there is not much fun in your life? Just end it? I don’t think so. He is right. That is a rather heathenish worldview and it won’t satisfy. It might be nice and simple, but is it true?
John D. Rockefeller, the richest man of his day and the first billionaire, said, "I can think of nothing less pleasurable than a life devoted to pleasure." He certainly could have bought any pleasure he wanted, but he knew that true satisfaction takes more than owning everything you want and doing whatever you think sounds like fun.
“I could be in the middle east, or Africa, or Brazil, or in a completely different era of history, and been fighting just for a meal, killed by US Drones, caught the Black Death, or never been born at all. That thought is even more depressing, admitting that we are contributing to global problems and retardation of intelligent exchange, but I still consider myself lucky to have these kinds of problems and thoughts.”
True, but that doesn’t answer the question does it?
My unpopular answer is that your life has value because you are not just some bag of material chemicals that happened to evolve by great luck against huge odds with no purpose or future. No, you are the handiwork of the Creator. Created things all have value and were created for a purpose. The Creator loves you and cares for you and desires a relationship with you.
But our selfishness, our independence, our desire to live life our own way thinking that is the way to satisfaction sends the wrong signal to God. After all God has done for us, we ignore Him and try and find purpose in life in the material things He has made. It won’t work.
Here is a message I will be preaching in my church this coming Sunday. I hope you will take the time to read it and think about it.
If you could change anything you want in this world, what would it be? Would you get rid of war? That would be nice wouldn’t it? Maybe you would do away with sickness and suffering? Sounds great, right? How about a crime free world? Or to put it in a positive way, not just the lack of bad things, but the presence of good things. So wouldn’t it be great to live in a world filled with love? How about a world where there were no human relationship problems? Other people, especially those who have suffered the death of a loved one, might like to do away with death.
I think we would all agree that something is wrong with the world we live in. It seems we are never quite satisfied, no matter how good we have it. In high school, we thought life would be better when we reached college and lived on our own. University was fun, but it had it’s own share of stresses and was over so quickly. It felt good to graduate and begin working, but soon we realized that work is tiring and stressful.
Many feel like they are slaves of the company. We thought getting married would fill the emptiness we were experiencing and although that was great and provided some happiness, the emptiness returned. Many wives hope for children. Singles hope for fulfilling relationships. Men hope for promotion and financial success.
I think we all tend to think that if we had just a little bit more money, we would be happier, but those who have been fortunate enough to actually get more money often times tell us that money is not the answer. Thom Yorke is a member of the alternative British rock band Radiohead. In a 2005 survey, he was voted the 18th best singer of all time! In an interview with the New Musical Express, he was asked about his ambitions.
Here is his answer: “Ambitious for what? I thought when I got to where I wanted to be everything would be different. I’d be somewhere else. I thought it’d be all white fluffy clouds. And then I got there. And I’m still here.”
The interviewer said “Then why do you keep on making music?” Yorke said “It’s filling the hole. That’s all anyone does.” When asked what happens to the hole, he paused a while and said “It’s still there.” Success, money, and fame wasn’t enough!
What Yorke is experiencing is nothing new. Blaise Pascal, the famous 17th century French scientist and mathematician, explained it like this: “There is a God-shaped vacuum in our hearts that only God can fill.” Could it be that he is right? Have you ever seen a child trying to stick a square object into a round hole? It doesn’t work, but that is exactly what we do when we try and fill the God shaped hole in our hearts with something other than God.
The Bible explains the origin of our dissatisfaction with life in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. We were created in the image of God, our Creator, and in the beginning, we had a meaningful relationship with our Creator. In fact, our first ancestors literally walked and talked with Him. But then they made a big mistake. Although they had experienced nothing but love, blessing, and kindness from God, they violated his standards and decided they would be their own boss.
How many of you have ever suffered the loss of a very meaningful relationship? How did it feel? Terrible right? Didn’t you feel a big hole in your heart? It was the same for Adam and Eve. They lost the most important relationship in their life - their relationship with God. And worst of all, it was their own fault. Why? Because they rejected His love, rebelled against Him, and chose to go their own way. The Bible calls this sin or wrongdoing.
In Genesis chapter 3, verses 6-10 we read, "...Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked... Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
For the very first time in their lives, they realized that they were naked and they were embarrassed. They felt guilty and tried to hide from the presence of God. Something had changed; their relationship with each other was damaged, but worse than that, their relationship with God was lost. A chasm developed between the Creator and His people. And ever since then, we have been born with this God shaped hole in our hearts.
So the big question is this. Is it possible to fill this hole and find happiness in this life? Yes, it is. Please look again at today’s passage. Jesus said “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” This verse answers a very important question for us. Does God love me and care about me? Yes, He loves you and desires a relationship with you. In fact, He wants you to have an abundant life. And that’s why He sent Jesus to this earth. So yes, there is hope for satisfaction here and now.
There was a missionary named Paul in the NT who suffered much for his faith. He was beaten, shipwrecked, slandered, mocked, whipped, imprisoned, etc. and yet listen to what he said in Phil. 4:11b-13. “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Paul had learned the secret of contentment even in the midst of his suffering so obviously, Jesus is not promising that all suffering will be taken away. But even in the midst of the trials of this world, we can be satisfied just like Paul was. True satisfaction though, 100% satisfaction will have to wait for heaven.
There are two reasons why this is so. One is that our relationship with God is still not complete. It is like we are now engaged, but not yet married. When we get married, or in other words, when we reach heaven, then we will experience that relationship fully.
The second reason is that we weren’t made to live in a world filled with sin, evil, pain, disease, and suffering. This was never God’s plan. We were made for heaven. We were made to have a relationship with Him and to live in a perfect environment. As long as we live in this imperfect broken world, that will not be possible.
This world has been cursed because of our rebellion against the Creator. Listen to this verse from Genesis 3: “cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;” Death itself was a part of that punishment.
Plus, as I mentioned, our relationship with God was lost because of our selfishness and rebellion against the Creator. So, the truth is, as long as we live in this imperfect world, we can never be 100% satisfied. But the abundant life that Jesus gives lasts throughout all eternity. When we get to heaven, then we will experience life as God originally intended. We will be fully satisfied and all our deepest longings will be met because we will be with God forever and ever!
There was a man who lived in the 5th century named Augustine. He pursued happiness through his promiscuous life for many years. He caused his mother much sorrow and unhappiness, but she fasted, faithfully prayed, and wept for him. At age 33, he finally came to the point where he realized that this kind of life would not bring him peace and happiness. His mother’s prayers were answered and he became a follower of Jesus and went on to become one of the greatest Christian theologians ever.
Listen to this prayer that he prayed: "Lord, I need the gift of your coming into my heart and filling it to the brim.... The house of my soul is too small for you to come in to me; let it be enlarged by you. It is in ruins, but I ask you to remake it. It contains much that you will not be pleased to see; this I confess to you and do not hide it.”
Perhaps there is someone here today who like Augustine. You feel that emptiness. You feel that God shaped hole in your heart and you want God to fill it. You know there are things in your heart that do not please God, and you know you need to confess them. Or perhaps you would just like to learn more about Jesus. Either way, I want to encourage you to read the Bible and to learn who Jesus is.
He loves you and wants to have a relationship with you that not even death can end. Remember, disappointment in this life is normal. We were not made to live in this broken down world filled with so much pain and suffering. We were made for heaven. We were made for God, to know and to enjoy Him forever. Jesus said “I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.”
We can try and fill that hole in our hearts with many things and we can find a measure of temporary satisfaction with them, but true satisfaction is found only in Jesus. We are not promoting religion, but rather a relationship with the living God. And it is our desire that as many people as possible come to know Jesus and find joy and satisfaction in His great love as we have.
Sorry this got so long. I know it is an unpopular answer, but for what it's worth, it is my view.
Poor minds talk about people, something something talk about events, and I forgot the rest of the quote. Yeah its all fuckin meaningless but you just gotta go with it. Not everyone is out for intellectual discussion, and its never worth the effort when you can just default to shit like football in every situation ever.
EPT
