Has anyone discovered a meaning of life?

[Confucisous]

This is obviosy peri talk while HRT is still kicking in... But with all major milestones ticked off, I am just keeping busy until death, or that is what it feels like. I do all the right things (exercise, travel, work, socialise) but it all feels like finding something to do. If the point is to enjoy yourself, then I would just drink tea and eat chocolate all day. Does anyone else feel like that, that they are just getting through each day without any bursts of joy or much feeling about anything reallly? Is this contentment or depression?

Oooh no, contentment is much more active than that. It's about feeling in the moment. A pleasant, calm, appreciative moment, because all is well.

Not yet, also perimurdel.

Agree. Contentment is actively feeling happy at what you’re doing at that moment, rather than just filling time with it. Work and exercise doesn’t even come close.

For me, it’s a mixture of being creative, having lovely days out with my DH, spending time with younger members of the family, being by the sea either with a sun umbrella and a cold drink, or bundled up with a flask of tea, sitting in a bath full of bubbles with a good book and a bacon sandwich for as long as I want, with regular hot water top ups, wandering around a museum by myself with no rush, and seeing my favourite people.

Who are you? What do you like doing? What excites you? What relaxes you? Not just expensive things like holidays etc, but the pleasure you get from every day small things. Are you doing those things?

Also peri, ten years in and counting 🙄

I've been pondering this lately too. Finally fessed up and spoke to my DH and friends. We all agreed there isn't one. Life isn't that "deep".
💐

I focus on experiencing awe. E.g Stargazing and knowing you're looking back in time (4,000 years!) blows my mind.

I personally think that the universe is in someone/something elses vision. You know how we all have our own vision for how things should be. Governments of countries have them etc. The things that go wrong on earth etc are just things that they haven't managed to sort out at this time. Basically a normal vision but on a much bigger scale. We are a part of someone else's vision in my opinion and it is a live situation. We are being managed. It explains the whole free will thing

There an argument to be made that it is cheese.

@TeaBiscuitsNaptime I do not get any of your post, sorry.

I think I maybe one of those “needs doing” people who just can’t stop to enjoy the moment. If I sit down in the garden, I will find 10 jobs to do.

@WilfredsPies If I am out for a day or already in a hot bath, it’s a moment to savour. So, I guess I need to make time for those more.

@OttersOnAPlane Any particular one, how much and how often?

The actual meaning of life is to perpetuate it. Every living creature on earth does this. But why that is so, no one knows.

Or do you mean the meaning of life for humans only OP?

We are part of the ecology. Humans are destroying the planet. Perhaps the planet has to be destroyed in order to feed something else? We just don't know.

Humans will become extinct one day, the planet earth may recover or may explode or disintegrate. It will make no difference to us because we will be long gone.

Or are you just expressing dissatisfaction with your life? That's a very different question.

Happiness and love. I may or may not be talking about the big tasty when I write this 😋

Life is just experiences, good or bad or mundane! There's no higher purpose or meaning to it. I try to spend as much time as I can doing what I enjoy and as little time as possible worrying. In the grand scheme of things, I am a nobody. Which I see as a positive, not a negative. It doesn't really matter all that much what I do or don't do, which I find quite freeing.

According to Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, it's 42.

I think when you realise there is no ‘meaning of life’ and just enjoy it for what it is, you’ll feel more content. You could be here for the next year, or the next forty, so you need to get out of it what you can. Yes, the big stuff is great, the holidays or whatever, but also the little things, as @WilfredsPies says. A walk in the sunshine, spending time with your favourite people, a good book, coffee and biscuits, interesting documentaries, wearing your favourite clothes or burning your favourite candles, enjoying hobbies, whether it’s knitting, jigsaws, writing …
I’m early 50s and feel more content than I did a few years back. Age and peri definitely can do a bit of a number on you.

Noooooo you beat me to it!

I read that as perimurder which sums up some menopausal moods quite nicely.

Love this 💐

Being a Mum ( don't vomit).

Being active in causes I believe in. Jews are being persecuted again for being Jewish in the West. Fucking shocking. You could get involved in combating that. Or something else that is important to you.

Being involved in something bigger than yourself.

@WallaceinAnderland It’s not that I am dissatisfied, I have everything I need to be happy. It’s just a flat feeling of going through the motions every day. I had a major life event 4 weeks ago, I lost my job and even that has calmed down after two weeks with active search. It’s kind of like same shit, every day, even when something like this happens.

“A smell of petroleum prevails throughout” besides that, I don’t think there is any meaning, we’re all here for a few years, then we die. Might as well make the best of it!

I think @WallaceinAnderlandis right, the point of life is to keep humans going. So I can see you might feel a bit aimless if you’ve done that bit. Beyond that, have fun? Appreciate how lovely the world is? Protect as much nature as possible to ensure future generations have a nice world to be in?

Or perhaps you are someone who needs religion and that sort of “why am I here?” Type reflection.

There is no point in life. That is the point and I found it kind of freeing when I really, properly understood that that is the case. We are all just here for an infinitesimally tiny amount of time in the grand scheme of things. Each one of us is simultaneously important (in our own lives) and completely irrelevant (in the life of the planet). We have certain control over some things, less in others and none at all in many things, including when and where we were born, when we die, etc. I like that this is the case, makes for a useful daily mantra of "Oh well" or even "Meh"!!

Read the Stoics @Confucisous They are a contented bunch. Ryan Holiday has written some accessible books putting it all across.

And fwiw I find a great deal of contentment in drinking tea and eating chocolate 😊

Life is meaningless and everything dies.

I find this rather comforting.

Can you not change the motions, change the day? Are you looking for work now?

There isn't one.

It's precisely why people have children - to give some meaning to day to day life and distract from the utter pointlessness of existence.

If you feel in search of a meaning, just operate on the basis that is your job to leave the world in a better place by helping others as much as you can.