Do something you never did before. Something you wouldn't normally think of doing.

It might be hard to come up with an idea since "think of something you wouldn't normally think of" sounds like a contradiction. But I am sure you will feel when the idea you have in mind is indeed an original idea for you.

It's essentially about changing your perspective. A lot of things in life are just a matter of perspective :)

I have had similar periods in my life. I found that being responsible for others helped me to stop dwelling on my own problems. You already have that with your grandparents, but I guess it's not helping much. What about friends? Do you socialize much?

Your grandparents won’t always be here. Enjoy it while it lasts and learn what you can while you can.

You don't need to leave your "golden cage" to learn powerful new skills in this age of information. Then what? Then you become a better version of yourself and you can help us all along after you're done doing that with your grandparents.

I can empathize with your sentiment, completely. I think it is natural to feel this way. I sort of operate on the assumption that everyone does at one point or another, and it helps explain desperate things that people do. First step is identifying it, which you have done. Next, desiring to change it. Do you desire change? How much? That is an important thing to know about yourself.

hmmmm, but shouldn't waste this opportunity being on this beautiful planet! For me, I have many things I want to try and learn, but I need to slow things down so that I can focus on them one by one.

Maybe try with these

To be passionate about life, I think you need to find out what you enjoy doing and be surrounded by inspiring people.

If you're depressed and looking for purpose, for the love of god, don't follow the awful "have kids" advice. Bringing another life into the world and making them deal with your shit ain't it.

I'm currently in a somewhat similar situation to you, and a lot of what you're feeling resonates with me. Best I can do is try to get out and make friends. The local bitcoin meetups have been pretty good for that. Find out if your area has some recurring meetups.. if they don't, consider starting one.

Not sure how old you are...

The growth will set you up for the future. The kids will give you "why" to live for.

I sometimes feel like this, but I am a simple man, I go pick up heavy things for an hour or run after a soccer ball with friends and it makes the voices go away. I don't try to dwell on where I am or where I want to be, that's just going to make me depressed, but I look at everyday and see what I can do to get more closer to something I want, be that more savings, better health, more time for hobbies etc,

My best advice is try to break out of comfort zones, and try new things, and figure that its okay to hate that thing afterwards, but at least you gave it a shot and by the process of elimination you find things that bring you joy

I meditate. Sometimes, and often enough that I see it as a viable strategy, I uncover interests which my mind is low key thinking about and then I go work on that for a while. My overall purpose is to live a peaceful life and to help others do the same. We accomplish a lot simply by not creating trauma for others.

Also, thank you for asking deeper questions!

At my current stage in life, I cannot relate, I wake up every morning feeling ready to do whatever I can to make my goal and dream come true. Life is absolutely amazing!

However, I did have a pretty long phase in which I felt extremely lost and without purpose so I thought I would share what that was like and how I gradually got out of it. To keep things short and sweet, I was in a very depressed state for close to three years. I've always had a passion for playing soccer but I got to a point where I began hating playing soccer and that destroyed my confidence and pretty much shattered my identity I had built up to that point. Soccer was my life, and I began hating it. Thus, I quit the sport I loved and that left me completely empty, without any direction, and from there things began to tank even further, as I began dealing with chronic fatigue, back pain, being anxious all the time, and that leading me to feel extremely depressed and I even contemplated taking the easy way out. But something within me refused to let me pull my own plug. And so I looked and looked for ways to somehow turn my life around and find meaning in life, all I wanted at this point was to be able to feel, feel anything as I felt extremely numb towards everything.

What eventually got me out of rock bottom was a breathing method called the Wim Hof Method. I don't practice it anymore, but during those lows, it gave me peace of mind, and got me feeling something for once. Learning about Bitcoin as well during this time gave me a more optimistic outlook on life for myself and for the world. But, the journey from rock bottom to where I am now took a lot more time, effort, and trial and error.

Ultimately, what I have learned from my experience of being completely numb towards life to feeling ecstatic towards it, came down to getting my health in order. And health is multifaceted and can take time to figure out, and take time it did. The exact way in which one optimizes their health can differ but I think the general ideas are more or less the same.

I will list out what has worked for me.

Diet: Low carb, quality fats, quality protein from animal products, well filtered water, little to no sugar and alcohol, and intermittent fasting. People may argue this, but I personally do well eating vegetables, especially of the non starchy leafy green kind. Become insulin sensitive.

Exercise: I'm back playing soccer competitively so soccer, but also have learned the importance of a solid strength and conditioning program in the gym, as well as learning to sprint. If you don't know where to start, I personally think everyone should learn how to sprint because it is one of the funnest things to learn.

Recovery / Rest: magnesium baths, red light therapy, breathholds for relaxation and conscious breathing (cadence breathing).

Eustress (good short duration stress): cold shower, exercise, zone 2 training, VR gaming (I use a soccer simulator, but also boxing, and one that simulates firefights), lifting heavyass shit, doing anything that gets me out of my comfort zone (even posting on here initially made me a bit nervous and anxious), traveling the world whenever I can.

Other: keeping track of my day to day health metrics via the Whoop. Waking up and turning on my light box, that stimulates the brightness of the sun (or just go outside first thing in the morning if where you live has good sunlight). Been trying fish oil, liking it so far, although make sure to get one that is high quality. Journaling everyday. Intermittent dopamine detox.

And yeah, that's basically what helped me feel excitement towards life. I had to optimize my health first, and now that I have that in order for the most part (always room for improvement), I have more clarity on what it is I want to do with my life, I now have purpose and drive. And regardless of whether or not you immediately find purpose as a result of optimizing your health, at least you'll be in better shape, have more energy and vibrancy, have daily physical challenges to conquer such as lifting or sprinting faster, and overall you'll start feeling good about yourself and gain confidence, and as you build up those small wins, and become 1% better everyday, purpose and meaning will start to show itself to you. This is what I believe.

All the best!

I am nothing waiting to die.

If you're already into Bitcoin, and are a believer, there is something you can do for the good of the 99%.

First, if you haven't already read 1984 by George Orwell, that's essentially where we're heading and what taking back control of money can avoid.

Second, find a way to get into the system and slowly but surely switch corrupt money for Bitcoin. Doesn't have to be a job. Get your local cafe to accept Lightning. Personally I'm aiming higher and am 3 years into a FinTech that, If we survive, will become a bank that treats Bitcoin as an equal option to USD/EUR/GBP etc. By giving businesses an "easy choice". It's a serious undertaking, we're burning cash at 200k/month. Being authorised by a Central Bank (we are) comes at a high cost. When the wars of aggression stop becasue a government can't rasie enough Bitcoin we've won.

Bitcoin Core Developer

I can relate. Have kids.

It sounds to me like you are looking too hard for things to be incredibly meaningful to you.

Instead, you need to rediscover the simple pleasures of experience. The enjoyment in things that you are presently dismissing as “unimportant”.

“What matters” to us depends entirely on our attitude and point of view. If you’re looking for something that “matters” at some ultimate metaphysical level, you’re going to see all of life as unimportant.

However, if you step back and try to experience the simple things as enjoyable again, you’ll suddenly see that you’ve been dismissing a nearly infinite supply of enjoyable experiences as meaningless.

Taking a walk, smelling the leaves, having a coffee, sex, seeing a beautiful innocent child, climbing a wall, hiking up a mountain, feeling an old book, …. All of these things really are enough. Don’t look past everything; look into everything.

Do you think you are depressed? Is sounds to me like you are, at best, stuck in a funk or, at worst, stuck down a depression hole. I've been to both places many times and here's my take. Either way, often there's not much other people can do to help with "ideas / suggestions", especially if the person in the funk/depression bats these off with a thousand "buts" or consults the Guinness book of excuses. They have a problem for every solution. Besides, not knowing the finer details of your life and what you're into, I'm hard-pressed to come up with ideas. I've been there myself and I just left a friend to herself, after years of negativity. I spent around 25 years giving to other people and putting myself last and, now I'm just coming out of that period, I am having to reinvent / find myself again. I have felt many many different emotions (believe me!). I don't drink alcohol or use any other psychoactive substance either, so I have had to "feel" and "deal" with every single emotion and it's tough lol. What it takes is a complete shift in mindset that only the person is in control of. Sometimes you have to feel "max pain" before you can "rise from the ashes" as it were. I don't know if any of that is helpful. Sorry if it seems blunt lol, I've got to a stage in life where sugar-coating is becoming more of a challenge. Other than that, you could try finding a good counselor and/or life coach. Or simply do the work yourself, if you can.

"1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

3 What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. 7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. 8 All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. 9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. 11 No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.

Wisdom Is Meaningless 12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

15 What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief."

-Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1

I wonder if you might get something out of the book of Ecclesiastes. Much of what follows is similar, and despite popular believe, if you read to the end and put everything in context, the overall theme is clearly NOT that everything is meaningless. At the least, you'll get a lot of sympathetic thoughts from the author, even if you don't come to the same conclusions as him.

find death before death finds you

You've got a lot of advice, but since I've been in your shoes, and little of this would have been much help to me, here's one more opinion:

As you go about your current life, whatever that includes, there will be moments where you feel a stirring of interest or excitement, like when you're walking around a city and you catch a whiff of baking bread somewhere; or hear music playing somewhere. And then you keep walking and it's gone.

You can start orienting to that smell of baking bread. Trying to walk toward it so that it gets stronger instead of disappearing.

That's it. That's the recipe.

What counts as the smell of baking bread will be different for you vs others. I don't know what it is and you might not, either. That's the beauty of the technique, your model of yourself is probably garbage, unless you've been living a very particular life you won't have a good idea of what you need. But being alert to what's alive in you from moment to moment is a reliable guide.

Nothing more is required than to attend, and then to act on what you notice. You'll discover something important. It's been very helpful to me.

I don't have any ideas for you.

What I'll do instead is let you know that there's at least one other person in the world who currently feels a similar way.

I'm speaking of a friend, of course ;)

Sounds like you're frustrated with yourself. That feeling is one of the greatest things you might experience in life. Doesn't feel that way though, does it?

You're presented with a choice:

In my very limited experience, some people can choose number 1 and accept it, the others simply can't.

There are no external factors at play, there are no answers from the outside world, there is no right path. All of what happens next is 100% your responsibility.

You already know all the answers.

*Build something, could be a tiny house in your garden, house on a tree, greenhouse or even a forniture.

*Get a dog, it will force you to go out and walk every day few times a day. Training a dog is a good challenge and it come with some rewards.

*Volunteer in any NGO, helping others it is a good way to help you.

*Find love. with the right partner everything works out better.

*Grow some plants.

*Do some exercise. Running is a mental challenge, try it.

You are still doing a great job by providing care for you grandparents. I am myself doing the same, albeit for my parents. I myself went through some of these feelings sometime ago. Let me just tell you what I did to overcome them and hope it can help you.

Hope it might help you out....

Coding python for AI research has given my life a never ending supply of fire and purpose.

I am not trained in it, have no background, but got a self hosted web app up and running. I read all the latest academic papers and write code.

If i did it for work id be sick of it. But it is a hobby. And i love it.

"Cant die before AGI" - one of my mottos

You are blessed and have been given a chance to take care of your Gramps. Use it wisely. Talk to them as much as you can, they have been around for 180 years together, sponge that wealth of information and keep it for the next generations (your kids or others). Asked them what their life was like in their teens and 20's, that world doesn't exist anymore and you can preserve it and learn from it. Your purpose might be to take care of them and make them transition and they will know that their lives mattered, they have seen a lot and know what to do and what NOT to do. Make notes or recordings or whatever. It's right in front of you, that is now your job. You do have a purpose! Don't waste it. That's the way I see it. Hope you can see it too....

I can relate

After a couple ventures that fizzled out I’ve been drifting aimlessly

It’s a Groundhog Day challenge

I would recommend watching some existentialist and absurdist work.

Ikiru Woman in the dunes At the existentialist cafe Positive nihilism

The idea of we are born with meaning and purpose is a wishful one, hence most people feel lost once they realise that isn’t the case.

But existentialism etc argue that makes our lives more authentic and more free to do anything we actually want.

Unlike religion that gives you an ultimate purpose, that you must abide for the better eternal life, a meaningless life means you should enjoy the one you have right now.

Write down goals, self reflect, and get after them. You don’t get what you dream for you get what you work for! God bless!

I could offer lots of recommendations, but I think ultimately it is a state of mind. Social media perpetuates this. People only share their highlights. I share my snowboarding adventures. I don't share the sitting in my home office that is littered with empty energy drinks day in and day out.

I would argue that what you are doing, helping your grandparents, has FAR more substance than what most people do. It certainly has more substance than what I do day to day. It sounds like the main difference is I have more hobbies.

Nonetheless, if I didn't have a full time job I would get a morning work out in, pick up breakfast and coffee, go to grocery store to buy what I want to cook for the day, learn something new (physical like skateboarding or mental like math), and relax. Doing these things will lead to finding a community to share more time with.

It's all in the mind.

Take off the grey glasses.

Find something that interests you and work on it.

Find yourself a significant other, workout, and be careful what you concentrate on.

Bitcoin was the thing that animated me to take more action, hopefully down the road the same will happen to you.

First of all, I want to say thanks for sharing!

I don’t have any “good” (this is always subjective) ideas/advice that would bring a change to you. I believe that no one can give you the “perfect” idea/advice because it doesn’t exist. The only one who can help you is yourself. Somehow, you need to see what fits to you.

For example, when I had a difficult time a few years ago (somehow similiar to your situation), I tried therapy. I found a good (subjectively good) psychoanalyst, and she helped me a lot. I can’t say that this will work for you. I cannot know that. No one can know that. Only you can know it. Try it! If it works, great. If not, keep trying other things (including other’stackers ideas) until you find what works for you.

The only thing I want to say you is: Don’t give up! It’s a huge blessing that you, me, and everyone else have come into this world. And each person’s journey is unique

It seems you're looking for a sense of purpose and direction amidst a sense of stagnation. Try increasing your involvement in community service or volunteering, leveraging your interest in Bitcoin to help non-profit organizations.

Subscribe to @8lock8, has plenty of good insights ;) Just released The power of a perspective few min before you publish this!

Have a child. That's our purpose in life.

I've been doing this for two family members too. As I'm so ill, it's a bit like the blind leading the blind sometimes. One has recently passed, so I don't have to juggle so much now.

Please make sure you look after yourself - both mentally & physically. Don't do too much and burn yourself out. It should be obvious that if that happens, and the dam bursts, everyone could find themselves in a far worse situation. If you can explain this, well in advance to other able-bodied family members, you might be able to work as a team now to prevent any problems down the line.

If there's no-one else in the family to give you a rest well before this might happen, perhaps look for external home help - also getting time for yourself if one or both can get mobile and join a club. Their health and happiness might pick up too.

Do appreciate your time with them though - and see how you might be given an opportunity to gather your thoughts and make use of your time.

Take care and wishing you the best of luck.

Based on what you described, I would say enjoy your time with your grandparents, engage with them, make them speak about their life, learn their life history if you can. Try to find a job, any job, even if it's a braidead job, it will give you objectives, it will make you interact and meet people, if you can't try to do some voluntary work, for the same reasons. Do some exercise if you aren't already doing. Try to learn or read about subjects you like, or learn a new skill, today we have tools to learn almost anything, you can also volunteer to job job to learn something. The main point to me is, help people, get something to do, paid or not, learn, meet and interact with people, don't close yourself from the world, interact, keep an uplift spirit, and things will flow, don't think too much about purpose, enjoy people and life with an open spirit is my advice.

If you like being involved with the national reserve, why are you not going to be involved with that long term?

The only advice type thing I have to offer is to do more of whatever is giving you some sense of fulfillment and less of whatever is draining you.

It can be useful to go through periods where you discover that certain things are not fulfilling to you, even if it's unpleasant.