Boredom/ Existential crisis/ 26

['Walt' E. Kurtz]

Life is like a baboons ars-e  colourful and full of shi_t

Edited January 25, 2020 by 'Walt' E. Kurtz

[spartan max2]

10 minutes ago, Farmer77 said:

I havent read the other responses and I really dont want this to be a stick in your spokes but as someone who just rounded 40 I say GO WHILE YOU CAN!  The life you described will be available to you in your 40's , 50's  and beyond. There are however probably a thousand different career fields, volunteer or educational opportunities hell just experiences in general that would interest and excite you that will NOT be available to you at some point. Whether its due to sickness or age or that horrible horrible STD called children your ability to do **** will dwindle as you age.

Part of that big picture is career field of choice. I entered the workforce after graduating with a clear goal in mind and got dumb lucky and stumbled into something that while less lucrative is 1000x more fulfilling.  Having completed grad school just means that you barely even have to knock to enter the door of any career field you choose. Change is good!

The other option of course is fly fishing. Thats almost as bad as drugs though.

 

The fly fishing made me laugh.

I re-call that you had a significant health problem show up randomly? When did that happen for you? Have you been able to still do new things and be fulfilled since?

Edited January 25, 2020 by spartan max2

[Habitat]

But who would swap places with a random person drawn from the mass of humanity ?

[Grim Reaper 6]

30 minutes ago, papageorge1 said:

OK, but scuba diving is not going to solve any existential crisis for long. We are not deeply satisfied by distractions we know are limited and temporary was my point.

Ok then jump out of airplane, climb a mountain, just do something you never thought you would. Do something that challenges every fiber in your sole. The possibilities are endless, everyone is afraid of something, we'll face those fears. The possibilities are  not limited or temporary at all, when you challenge yourself there is a long lasting satisfaction from doing so. Now I can't speak about how you live your life or what you find challenging, but it's kinda like if you build it they will come. For those who never step outside their comfort zone, I am certain life is boring, but fur those who dare to live excitement can always be found.

Peace Papa

Edited January 25, 2020 by Manwon Lender

[Farmer77]

1 minute ago, spartan max2 said:

The fly fishing made me laugh.

I re-call that you had a significant health problem show up randomly? When did that happen for you? Have you been able to still do new things and be fulfilled since?

I did I was 32 when it hit and 36 when I got it stabilized. Honestly ive been really lucky after a rough run of a couple of years ive kinda got it figured out and have been able to get back in the swing. Its funny though ive reached a point where my aches and pains arent just MS related. It was just last year actually that I was watching a football game and went "holy **** that would take me a week to recover from" as a dude dove for the ball. The gut punch though was I realized that didnt have a damn thing to do with MS - getting old just sucks

I make my comment to you though because I genuinely wish someone would have made that comment to me at a young age. Ive discovered later in life the plethora of travel jobs, temporary assignments and expat start ups there are out there across the world and honestly its just harder as you get older.

For clarity I married young and am in no way saying run from your girlfriend. Father time is coming for her too and having a partner to do things with is the dream!

If you do decide to go the flyfishing route let me know I got hookups!

[papageorge1]

6 minutes ago, Manwon Lender said:

Ok then jump out of airplane, climb a mountain, just do something you never thought you would. Do something that challenges every fiber in your sole. The possibilities are endless, everyone is afraid of something, we'll face those fears. The possibilities are  not limited or temporary at all, when you challenge yourself there is a long lasting satisfaction from doing so. Now I can't speak about how you live your life or what you find challenging, but it's kinda like if you build they will come. For those who never step outside their comfort zone, I am certain life is boring, but fur those who dare to live excitement can always be found.

Peace Papa

OK, Manwon but your post honestly makes me feel more certain of what I said that you quoted. The physical experiencing is so fleeting that it can never satisfy an existential dissatisfaction.

[Grim Reaper 6]

Just now, papageorge1 said:

OK, Manwon but your post honestly makes me feel more certain of what I said that you quoted. The physical experiencing is so fleeting that it can never satisfy an existential dissatisfaction.

Well to each his own, l live by a very simple premise, challenge yourself every day. Because I beleive very simply that when you stop challenging yourself life will lose its flavor. I understand that we all have physical issues that may not let us do certain things. So for some a challenge may be to just get up and walk around a room, but there are always things we can do to break the plane of boredom. There is no reason to be bored, there is always something we can do to add a little spice to our lives.

Peace Papa

[papageorge1]

5 minutes ago, Manwon Lender said:

Well to each his own, l live by a very simple premise, challenge yourself every day. Because I beleive very simply that when you stop challenging yourself life will lose its flavor. I understand that we all have physical issues that may not let us do certain things. So for some a challenge may be to just get up and walk around a room, but there are always things we can do to break the plane of boredom. There is no reason to be bored, there is always something we can do to add a little spice to our lives.

Peace Papa

I can agree with breaking the boredom at the physical level.

But a thinking man has existential dimensions too that occupy him.

[MissJatti]

Start a new hobby or read a novel.

There are websites that can help you. Here's one of them

https://www.mydomaine.com/things-to-do-when-bored

[Farmer77]

Dude aint just bored.

[Rlyeh]

11 hours ago, Crikey said:

That's why Christians are kool, calm, goodnatured and don't take things seriously because they know this material world is just a tiny jigsaw piece in a bigger picture and counts for zilch in the grand scheme of things..

Haha.  I know you talk BS for the sake of it but even that was a bit too much.

[darkmoonlady]

You've addressed work, your relationship but what about your creative outlet? Do you have one, or need one or have an interest in one? I'm talking about anything, writing, sketching, painting, heck knitting..anything really interest you? Or a hobby or sport? 

[Duke Wellington]

In the Middle Ages the people lacked most of our forms of entertainment.

The modern phenomenon of filling our lives with as much as possible to avoid boredom is not our natural state. The OP needs to learn how to be bored, how to do nothing, how to slow down, how to take a day out, how to relax, and how to disengage from everything. In the process@spartan max2will learn to regulate his emotions when bored. I`m against@Manwon Lenderbecause he is trying to tell the OP to engage in activities that avoid boredom, which is avoiding dealing with the underlying problem.

We have different brains combined together into our human brains. The lower brain called the `Monkey Mind` is very hard to silence. It always wants to think about things, obsess about our problems, and get us engaging in physical activities. Its natural tendency is never to shut-up and its wired into our emotions allowing it to high-jack our behaviour by using boredom to get its way.

The Monkey Mind is our primitive brain but we have evolved a higher brain called the `Human Mind` which we can use instead. The higher brain says `I am going to do nothing all day long and I dont care what the Monkey Mind is going to get up too or how it tries to hijack my emotions, I`m going to ignore it`. If the OP sets aside one day per week as his boredom day he will quickly learn how to stop listening to his Monkey Mind and with it the feeling of boredom will disappear.

In fact he will go from someone existing in a primitive state where he led by his emotions into someone far more conscious and mindful of himself. He will be how a human should be and how humans were before society introduced all the wonderful experiences to stop us having to be with ourselves doing nothing.

Edited January 25, 2020 by RabidMongoose

[papageorge1]

39 minutes ago, iridescence said:

Hi Papageorge1,

I didn't say that I don't experience the crisis from time to time, just that belief doesn't help much imho. I actually consider myself a spiritual person (yes, atheists can be spiritual too) and I don't need any dogma to tell me how I should live my life. 

My point was that atheists generally believe in nothing beyond the physical life (no continuation of spiritual progress beyond this life). I was saying that the the understanding of the shortness of life more commonly leads to an existential crisis (as opposed to spiritual philosophies that believe the spirit in u continues eternally). 

45 minutes ago, iridescence said:

 You can find useful teachings in pretty much any philosophy. If a certain idea doesn't fit into my inner values and understanding, I simply reject it. People shouldn't complicate their existence with truisms and I would advice anyone to not become too attached to anything because life is short... and who knows.

I am not sure why you say 'truisms' complicate existence. I would say they enlighten us and help us see the bigger picture.

[zep73]

9 hours ago, papageorge1 said:

I think our ultimate nature is eternal and infinite so we find limited and short lived depressing to our true nature.

9 hours ago, Habitat said:

I suspect the OP is of well above average intelligence, and such people do get bored easily, many people tick off all the boxes on the usual bucket list, and then start thinking, there has to be more. That intuition is correct.

"True nature". "There has to be more". That is BS.

We are animals. Our bodies and brains haven't changed for 300,000 years, and are adapted to a life in the wild, where death and starvation is lurking around every corner. We are born to struggle and to face danger every hour of every day. So when you take such a brain, give it a safe environment, a 9-5 job and a loyal mate, it's not natural. It's not what it's evolved to do. It get's bored. And that's perfectly logical and natural. Any other reaction would be odd.

[Crikey]

8 hours ago, Rlyeh said:

Crikey said- Christians are kool, calm, goodnatured and don't take things seriously because they know this material world is just a tiny jigsaw piece in a bigger picture and counts for zilch in the grand scheme of things

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Haha.  I know you talk BS for the sake of it but even that was a bit too much.

 

Just look around mate, you won't find many neurotic jumpy irritable Christians, that's because they've freed themselves from the clutches of the world..

Jesus said:- "The world wants you to dance to its tune....God has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners...to release the oppressed" (Matt 11:16/17,Luke 4:18 )

"Don't conform to the pattern of this world" (Romans 12:2)

"Don't love the world or the things in it, otherwise the love of God is not in you" (1 John 2:15-17)

"Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col 3:2)

"You were bought at a price, don't serve men" (1 Cor 7:23)

"A friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4:4)

"You were dead when you followed the ways of the world" (Eph 2:1/2)

"You died with Christ from this world, so don't keep submitting to its rules" (Col 2:20)

 

 

Edited January 25, 2020 by Crikey

[spartan max2]

6 hours ago, darkmoonlady said:

You've addressed work, your relationship but what about your creative outlet? Do you have one, or need one or have an interest in one? I'm talking about anything, writing, sketching, painting, heck knitting..anything really interest you? Or a hobby or sport? 

Thanks. That's a thought I didn't consider. I do have no creative outlet now that I think about it.

[spartan max2]

2 hours ago, sci-nerd said:

"True nature". "There has to be more". That is BS.

We are animals. Our bodies and brains haven't changed for 300,000 years, and are adapted to a life in the wild, where death and starvation is lurking around every corner. We are born to struggle and to face danger every hour of every day. So when you take such a brain, give it a safe environment, a 9-5 job and a loyal mate, it's not natural. It's not what it's evolved to do. It get's bored. And that's perfectly logical and natural. Any other reaction would be odd.

Haha yes. I feel like that's a great summize of what's happening.

Edited January 25, 2020 by spartan max2

[XenoFish]

4 hours ago, iridescence said:

Being humble and understanding your place in the Universe is what I would call true spirituality.

I have to agree with this. Seems like people focus on the superficial aspects of spirituality rather than something more honest. 

[Rlyeh]

31 minutes ago, Crikey said:

Just look around mate, you won't find many neurotic jumpy irritable Christians, that's because they've freed themselves from the clutches of the world..

Actually you will find many, history is also full of them, sunshine. 

[papageorge1]

5 hours ago, iridescence said:

I don't think that believing in afterlife and immaterial things would make you a spiritual person. Being humble and understanding your place in the Universe is what I would call true spirituality. And atheists don't like the afterlife idea because there is no evidence that soul is separated from our bodies. And yes, it could lead to an existential crisis but you can choose to not focus too much on this. There are plenty of wonderful things to think about which could make your life more meaningful. You know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder

I can agree with much of that. All I've ever really said in this thread is that atheist-materialist types are more prone in general to an existentialist crisis than those that believe we are more than the physical body. You kind of agreed with me when you said 'And yes, it could lead to an existential crisis but'.

5 hours ago, iridescence said:

"A truism is a statement that is so widely accepted, or so evident and factual, that questioning its validity is considered foolish. A truism does not need to be supported by any other evidence. It is accepted as "true."

That means that I encourage open mindedness because we may never know the truth. If we cling too much to beliefs and ideas, we might end up being disappointed. So it's no wonder that this know-it-all attitude can make you feel depressed and go through an existential crisis.

In modern society it seems there are no 'truisms' on spiritual subjects. We each think for ourselves.

[papageorge1]

3 hours ago, sci-nerd said:

"True nature". That is BS.

Some of us believe from the evidence and argumentation shows that consciousness is our true nature that only incarnates a brain as we've debated in other threads. You calling that BS is just your opinion. My opinion is that this is all One Universal Consciousness at play.

[GlitterRose]

23 hours ago, Rlyeh said:

It should be clear, you brought up unlimited personal growth despite the fact we die.

I don't doubt life is less boring when you convince yourself of all kinds of wonderous bull****.

You just crack me up.

[Crikey]

I took early retirement a few years ago and have never been happier, because I'm free from the alarm clock telling me to get up and go to work..

Now I can just chill at home, mooching round on the computer watching youtube, asserting myself in discussion forums, cranking up my flight sims and wargames, and taking breaks to watch TV and my vid collection.

In fact I only leave the house twice a week to get my groceries in and ogle the shopwomen from between the cans of baked beans..

[simplybill]

On 1/24/2020 at 10:47 AM, spartan max2 said:

Basically I’ve had this feeling growing for about the last year  - boredom.

I graduated grad school about a year ago. My job has been good and steady. My GF is going steady (3 years now). I no longer feel stressed about time or money. Able to play video games as much as I want a good group of freinds. No crazy health programs yet. 

Everything is comfortable. But I find myself feeling bored and having an existential crisis. The feeling has been growing in the last year.

It might be compounding because my 26 birthday is in a week. 

I know this sounds stupid to alot of people, but like, how do you deal with this?

I can't help but just feel dread that this is kind of it. Just going to work consistently. Everything being comfortable but no longer really anything big to do.

I’m going to guess that you personally weren’t meant to be comfortable.

Your pursuit of knowledge and discovery abruptly ended a year ago and now you’re discovering that, for you, comfort is a form of slavery. Comfort is fine for a moment, but looking forward to a life of comfort is meaningless and soul-crushing.

I bolded those words in your quote to point out that you already know what is bothering you. You’re meant to live a life away from the mainstream. You have a gift for operating well in hardship. Don’t try to squeeze yourself into society’s ‘comfort box’.