Feeling unsure about life?

Question

Please don’t read this if you’re not me! I need to vent my thoughts and you would be invading my privacy, thank you! I'm a freshman in highschool and everything just seems pointless. I realize that I'm a massive loser for going to yahoo answers with my thoughts but oh well. It just seems like in our capitalist society we're forced to sell our labor in exchange for the resources that allow us to survive, and if you don't take the right steps to market your work abilities (i.e choosing the best colleges and internships) you're seen as a massive failure by the community, and since being viewed in a positive manner by your peers generally makes living easier, I do care what others think of me. I don't really follow any religion, but I really admire the ideals and teachings of buddhism. So when I die the particles that once made up my body will decompose and become something else entirely, I will return to the earth. So honestly, why the **** does any of this matter? If that's my inevitable fate, why should I have to suffer through such a menial existence? In this life suffering is inevitable, and I guess I'm just trying to figure out a way of life with the least amount of suffering. I realize how messed up this sounds. Its just what I've been thinking about lately. Um any thoughts? or advice?

Answer 1

No matter what kind of culture, society or environment you live in, survival comes only through effort.

Unless you are some kind of prince where people bring you everything you need.

Or unless you still live with you parents, in which case THEY provide your food, shelter and clothing.



Everyone has to work to obtain the things they need to stay alive, and to live with some degree of comfort (heat in the winter, shelter from the rain ,a comfortable bed to sleep in, dental medicine for when you are crying out with an abcessed tooth .... etc).



You do not HAVE to sell your labor for resources .. you can become a scavenger ... sleeping in cardboard boxes under bridges, scavenging for half-eaten Big Macs in the trashcans at McDonalds .... it will not be a happy or comfortable life, but at least it's your choice to NOT sell your labor for resources.



My advice is that you stop telling yourself depressing ideas. We ARE who we are by virtue of the stories we tell ourselves.

You could just as easy be telling yourself, "Gee, I get to find something I LOVE and they will PAY me to do it!!!!!!"

But no, you would rather be unhappy ... we now this because you are choosing stories to tell yourself that make you unhappy.



Life is what you make it.

We make it through HOW we relate to it .. from the cognitive self-statements we make, through the attributions we place on a situation and the way we "frame" it .. through the storylines we run through our head.



We create our own depression and we create our own joy.

Now, I'm not saying we can just start saying happy-happy things and turn our life around. We cannot lie to ourselves.



But a good place to start is to admit that you are not helping yourself with your attitudes. And to start taking personal responsibility for your choices ... after all, if you think you will be happier living in the gutter as a bum, that IS a choice you can make. You will have to give up good food, a warm comfortable bed, and your iPhone/ipod/whatever. But that is YOUR choice.

Personally, I am happy to earn money even though I don't care so much for my job. You see .. whether or not I enjoy my workday depends on how I choose to look at it ... we create our own emotions and we create our own reality.



Try looking into cognitive behavioral psychology.

Try doing Vipassana/Mindfulness Buddhist meditation (Buddhism is not a religion and not a philosophy .. it is a set of techniques you DO and practice and gradually gain skill at ... such as Vipassana).

Answer 2

Try a good capitalism:

Conscious Capitalism.

Try good relationship:

For Couples Only.

Cultivate self:

The Answer You're Looking for Is inside You

The Great Divorce

Man, Master of His Destiny

Answer 3

"I guess I'm just trying to figure out a way of life with the least amount of suffering"



How do we achieve it?



There are a lot of ways try to achieve it, I know one way will work: the Buddha's teaching, the body and mind observation.



Take the moments now for example, your eye look at the screen of your computer, you could use your eye contact as your object of meditation, you could use your feeling as your object of meditation, or you could use your mind flow as your object of mediation. While you were typing to ask this question too, you could use, the tangible feel of your finger touched to the keyboard, eye contact to the screen, feeling or your mind flow while you were writing your question as your object of meditation. For eating, talking, listening, etc., will be the same. That means, we could meditate all day long and realize how the mind, feeling, body reacted to the daily events. While the emotional state happened, we will observe it with the Buddha's teaching (Four Noble Truth), after sometime we will gain true knowledge and finally gain some wisdom to know how to deal with the daily events.



We don't practice and try to change something; we practice and let the nature of our practices to reach the non-greed, non-hatred and non-delusion life.



We only observe, when we observe the process of worry, we will understand why the worry happened, so, we will know how not go the same path to reach this kind of 'worry'. Since we understand, we experience personally. Once someone is cut by a knife, will this person be careful with knife next time.



We use the non-greed, non-hatred and non-delusion to practice. We respect everything in this world, which it is happened with some reasons and conditions behind it. So, when we observe something happened, we know it happened, and try not to mix greed, hatred, or dilution into it. If there is something that we have to resolve, we face the problem and solve the problem. Even if, there is greed, hatred, or delusion bonded into our mind, when we find out, we try not to continue it from that time on. And we respect that, the ability is not there yet. Gradually, we will be changed toward non-greed, non-hatred and non-delusion life.



In our life time we experience various things, and if it's worth referencing in our future, they're stored in the brain; the more chances it's released from the brain the more profound it becomes.



The messages released from our brain, is just for our reference, it's for us to use, not for us to worry.



Whenever we're faced with the brain to release unhappy messages, to know that this message appeared, if it's something that we have to face, just face it and solve it, does not exclude nor resist it, over the time, the effect of these messages will become lighter.



Rejection, resistance, etc. will only deepened the strength of these messages in the brain, and become more affecting on our life.



These informational messages, are just for the purpose of helping us, put down the messages which don't have reference value. Knowing the messages released from the brain are for reference only is important. People should never be worried or suffered by the messages released from the brain. Realize this is a reference message that we either use it or just put it down. If we cannot fulfill this simple rule, then we are exactly used by the body and mind.



So, smile, relax, release and just try to be calm and peaceful all the time, observing will let us gain more knowledge and eventually gain some wisdom.



I answered a lot of questions related to the Buddhism and meditation, which could help you too, I listed some of them below:

https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20140818171057AAzJQEE



Best regards!

Answer 4

One of the great mistake we people make is assuming that we are only a mass of material particles.

Yes, the mass of particles surround us but there is more within like :



<-- this



This is a strange life force (or phenomenon).

Yes , this is within you and it is very unlike of any material substance.

It is waiting to be discovered.

Discovering this you will know that you are distinct

from the mass of body.

Then you will know that you already are : blissful, happy & satisfied.

The you would not need anything else .

I know for you it is a matter of belief, but I only ask you to realize it.

Yes , it is possible.

Answer 5

Read the works of Eckhart Tolle

Answer 6

material particles can be traced and observed what they become again. is that statement true? can we trace all molecules and observe what they become again? are molecules immortal? no decay and disintegration?



what about mind particles? what do they become after they leave your head producing thoughts and emotions? can we trace the mind particles and observe what they become after they leave the brain?



think again. think carefully, more and more carefully.

Answer 7

"losers" and "winners" only exists in the judgmental and vain eye of the beholder! You can call me a "loser" I am at times! for people like you!!



All pain is blessing! Love transcends "death"!

Answer 8

I think most people have thoughts like that, I used to have quite alot of thoughts like that.

Answer 9

Appreciate life more