Meaning in life.

[Jannabear]

Meaning in life will not come from the stars, nor from superstition, meaning in life will not come by chance, but by choice.
If you want a meaning in life, if you want some form of feeling any fucking self worth, you go for it yourself, no one is going to hand it to you, it's not going to appear out of nowhere, you decide your purpose.
And your purpose should always be malleable, no one should go through life with one mindset, unless they look at their mindset skeptically and find it to be valuable.
I remember being suicidal, I've been suicidal multiple times before, and what finally got me out of that shit was realizing this.
You define your meaning, not some cunt, not something bigger then you, you define your meaning.
Now that's not to say you can't or shouldn't be influenced by others, but it is to say that the reasons you switch to a different mindset or meaning shouldn't be because of social pressure, or guilt, or any of that bullshit, you should switch because you found real reasons to switch, and you should always look for reasons to doubt yourself.
It's quite ironic that when you're most skeptical of yourself you may be the least self conscious, the reason for this is because if you're judging yourself from emotion, and not reason, then you will come to very strange and damaging conclusions, if you don't question yourself at all, then you shut down.
Now, emotion shouldn't be cut out completely as a factor, but it shouldn't be the primary factor.
And the notion that morality should derive from emotion is idiotic.
Empathy isn't just an emotional response to someone else going through something, it's an intellectual response, or atleast it should be.
I've changed alot as a person.
I went from when I was younger from being religious and racist, to non religious and non racist, but at this point I was angry at everyone, I realized I was raised in lies, and I was furious, I was shown the stupidity of humanity, and it disgusted me, it disgusted me to see the injustice, to see the horrible idiocy, to see the lack of empathy, the misguided emotions, the other people who were being lied to, I was revolted, to say the least.
Then I hit the breaking point, up until this point I was dealing with mental illness, and I was breaking apart.
The final straw for me was looking around me.
I was trying to hold on to a relationship with my parents that was horrible from the start, I needed to cut it out of my life.
I wasn't caring about anything, due to the emotional stress of being with them.
I wasn't happy on any level, other then a few moments of happiness.
I was at my breaking point.
Then I finally said. FUCK IT, in loud, angry words, but in my head.
I decided to cut the emotional ties with my parents, to try to heal emotionally, to take my mental health seriously, and to say fuck you to those who wanted to stop me from doing these things.
And here I am, a skeptic, an atheist, and a person who finally has a chance in life.
I have a chance to be the change I want to see in the world.
I have a chance to cut ties with family, and to say fuck you to all of them for treating me horribly, for abusing the social construct of a family to try to make me conform to their beliefs, and their horrible morality.
I have a chance to make friends.
I have a chance to enjoy life.
I suggest all of you do the same, I suggest you be a skeptic, It will lead you to amazing things.
My life may be temporary, and when I die I'm dead, but while I'm alive I'm going to make life better for me, and all of the other humans that exist, and will exist, I'm going to actually give a fuck about the one life I have, instead of wasting it out of fear.
I am an atheist.
If any of you are having trouble cutting ties with those who abused you, emotionally or physically, or are having trouble with mental illness, or are just looking for meaning in life, this is what I suggest.
Be a skeptic.

[Baruch]

They used to call that a manifesto ;-)

"Meaning in life will not come from the stars, nor from superstition, meaning in life will not come by chance, but by choice." ... but make wise choices ;-)

[Solomon Zorn]

I grok you, Jannabear. It takes a depth of self-awareness to really overcome the bad stimuli in our lives.

But blood is usually thicker than water. Is there really no one in your family who respects you? I know my family loves me, but the fanatical Christian ones (and there are a lot of them) are all sure that I'm bound for Hell, for disbelieving. If they preach to me, it's mostly out of genuine concern for my soul. I forgive them, because they are just struggling with the same lies that once brainwashed me. All of their lives, they've been saturated with the Bible. They only want to do right, but their upbringing tells them that the Bible is God's guidebook, for those who want to do right. So their hearts are usually in the right place, even if their words come off as ignorant, insensitive and outright whack-o.

Lucky for me, my sister is very accepting, and in fact, I think she's becoming more skeptical herself.

[stromboli]

I grok you, Jannabear. It takes a depth of self-awareness to really overcome the bad stimuli in our lives.

But blood is usually thicker than water. Is there really no one in your family who respects you? I know my family loves me, but the fanatical Christian ones (and there are a lot of them) are all sure that I'm bound for Hell, for disbelieving. If they preach to me, it's mostly out of genuine concern for my soul. I forgive them, because they are just struggling with the same lies that once brainwashed me. All of their lives, they've been saturated with the Bible. They only want to do right, but their upbringing tells them that the Bible is God's guidebook, for those who want to do right. So their hearts are usually in the right place, even if their words come off as ignorant, insensitive and outright whack-o.

Lucky for me, my sister is very accepting, and in fact, I think she's becoming more skeptical herself.

We're grokking people now. Need to bone up on my Heinlein and get some protection. 

[Solomon Zorn]

We're grokking people now. Need to bone up on my Heinlein and get some protection. 

It's been more than 20 years since I read Stranger In a Strange Land. I meant "grok" more along the lines of the dictionary definition, than the full-on Heinlein definition, which is supposedly beyond understanding.

[gentle_dissident]

I try not to get angry, sad, or bored. Those things kill me. Being around my family gave me those feelings. Luckily, the whole lot of them disowned me. I was expected to play the public for all it was worth, or conform and be played, or join the military. Instead, I try to keep myself and others from being angry, sad, or bored. However, people are a stubborn lot. I can almost see why my ex-family hated them.

I have a family now. It consists of my GF and our daughter. They're not so hard to put up with, but they do try me.

[Mermaid]

You define your meaning, not some cunt

Yeah, cunts. Who needs em?

[doorknob]

I hate that word "cunt"

any how I think those of us here find our own meaning for our own lives. I know what the mean of my life is.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Jann..for someone who says that you're letting go of the anger you sound pretty pissed off. I do agree with a bit of your drivel, but not all of it.
If you want meaning skip all the I'm ok, you're ok and that there's where it's at nonsense. The world is full of asswipes and always has been and always will be.
The meaning in my life? Getting old because you either get old or you die. The trick is to find where the two meet.

[Unbeliever]

They used to call that a manifesto ;-)

"Meaning in life will not come from the stars, nor from superstition, meaning in life will not come by chance, but by choice." ... but make wise choices ;-)

How does one predict ahead of time which choices will turn out to have been wise?

[Unbeliever]

We're grokking people now. Need to bone up on my Heinlein and get some protection. 

I thought grok was something disgusting that Klingons eat.

[Unbeliever]

I have a family now. It consists of my GF and our daughter. They're not so hard to put up with, but they do try me.

There is no "try."

I've never had a family, but from what I hear of the families of others, I didn't miss much. I'm glad you managed to make a family of your own, but don't let 'em grind you down.

[Unbeliever]

As far as the meaning of life goes...

[Mr.Obvious]

I tend to think of life as you dealing with shit happening around you, to the best of your capabilities, for those who you care about and yourself.
It leads me to seeing 'meaning' of life as not coming from a conviction or a belief about reality, but from the actions we take in it.
If that makes any sense.

[Baruch]

How does one predict ahead of time which choices will turn out to have been wise?

The wise don't pretend to glass ball the future, and they don't count the cost.  You are thinking which choices will be remunerative ... consult your stock broker ;-)