Contentment.

Mr.Pink

Mr.Pink

Mr.Pink

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5 Jan 2007
Posts
613
I am going to struggle to put the feelings i have into words, and i am just wondering if anyone has smilar feelings. Ever since i was about 18, (nearly 20 years ago!) i always had the thinking that something was missing from my life.

I could never put my finger on it, but i would know what it was, once i had it, and then i would start relaxing, and enjoying life. It could have been job related, relationship, finances, security...i didnt have a clue.

The mystical 'missing something' has never been solved. In those 18 years i have progressed career wise and am fairly happy with my work. I have two children, and a beautiful girlfriend, i have had holidays to europ and the states. I own my own house and am able to meet all the repayments and bills. I would say have enjoyed life, but have never really had one of those moments were you sit back in a chair and think " this is great - i am really happy".

Now the above probably sounds really selfish, i certainly am not complaining, i just want to stop thinking that the answer is 'just round the corner' and that its actually right before my eyes. I don't know how to feel content with what i have.

Does anyone understand what i'm on about? :(
 
I've felt like that ever since I left school. I think I have an underlying belief that I should be doing something very important.

I'm not, but subconsciously maybe I believe I should.
 
Gilly said:
I've felt like that ever since I left school. I think I have an underlying belief that I should be doing something very important.

I'm not, but subconsciously maybe I believe I should.
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I dont have anything useful to this thread(i dont have the life experience to be of any use :D ) but this reminds me of
Unbreakable

Im not suggesting that you are both some kind of real life superheroes though
 
I think you need to do something special, else what's the point of life? To be another number in the billions that populate the world, doing nothing useful other then living?

Of course, that may be what contributes to the dire state of modern celebrity culture..
 
Nope, im 23 and very happy with my life and where it is going.

I am sorry you feel like you do.

KaHn
 
It's these damn Hollywood movies, giving people false hopes and dreams of what one's life could suddenly become when a stranger walks through that door !
 
Quite happy right now, all be it only nearly 23.

I guess the weight of the world is yet to crush my spirit.
 
I've got this feeling at the moment(I'm only 21) But i've had the feeling you're looking for, and I hope to have it again in the future.

I got it when I 1st put on my uniform for the British army, I had an immense sense of pride in what I was doing and at that time I felt very content with where my life was heading. Unfortunately due to medical reasons, I was discharged and now I am waiting to get back in and finish what I started.

I hope you are able to find what ever it is you are looking for fella.
 
Mr.Pink said:
I am going to struggle to put the feelings i have into words, and i am just wondering if anyone has smilar feelings. Ever since i was about 18, (nearly 20 years ago!) i always had the thinking that something was missing from my life.

I could never put my finger on it, but i would know what it was, once i had it, and then i would start relaxing, and enjoying life. It could have been job related, relationship, finances, security...i didnt have a clue.

The mystical 'missing something' has never been solved. In those 18 years i have progressed career wise and am fairly happy with my work. I have two children, and a beautiful girlfriend, i have had holidays to europ and the states. I own my own house and am able to meet all the repayments and bills. I would say have enjoyed life, but have never really had one of those moments were you sit back in a chair and think " this is great - i am really happy".

Now the above probably sounds really selfish, i certainly am not complaining, i just want to stop thinking that the answer is 'just round the corner' and that its actually right before my eyes. I don't know how to feel content with what i have.

Does anyone understand what i'm on about? :(
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you need to go backpacking round india.... highly recommended...

Do it then come back to the forums.
 
I'm 17, have just left college because I don't see the need, I have a part time job (you all know where :p ) and the rest of my time I spend looking for a full time job or on here :D
And I feel superb.
Ever since my mum and dad split a few years back, I kindof took my life into my own hands. My dads out of the house from 6am, to sometimes 10-11pm with work, so I cook/clean/do the washing etc etc... and it's heaven.
I love my little job, and I love the self-independence.

Hope you find what your looking for, if anything, soon.

Matt
 
I feel the same but i know the reason why, I lost the feeling of "life is fantastic" when i split with my last proper girlfriend. I have had girlfriends since but got rid of them all because they just arnt the same as her. Bit of a rut really as i have got into the situation where i want them to be the same and no-one ever will be :(

I need to sort myself out in this regard, as everything else is going fairly well. The other issue i have is my obsession with earning, no amount will ever be enough, and this will probably go with me until i die.
 
Maybe you're realising there's no point to life? I'm only 22 and I know I'm going to go exactly the same place as everyone else, 6ft under or scattered in the wind. What you have to do in the meantime is have as much fun as you can. So stop thinking about "yeah, I can pay my bills fine" and start thinking, "ace lets go freakin' skydiving tomorrow"

or something...
 
Maybe you would benefit from having a read of this book: 'What should I do with my life?' By Po Bronson

It's a feeling I'm struggling with myself (at the fine age of 28) and platypus seems to have hit the nail on the head. In almost all cases it will require some pretty drastic changes and tough decisions, but if you're working towards the various expected achievments (degree - tick, job - tick, girlfriend - tick, wife - not yet, kids -one day...and so on), yet never actually experiencing any genuine fulfillment from any of it...what's the point? It's your life after all and only you are living it.
 
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NullVoid, whats that book about?
I mean im happy with lots of parts of my life, just mainly my career that is bit pants at the mow.
 
hargi said:
NullVoid, whats that book about?
I mean im happy with lots of parts of my life, just mainly my career that is bit pants at the mow.
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I only just got it myself last week, but I thought it was pretty relevant to the topic at hand. I'd be able to get back to you with a better answer once I've read it in the next week or two, but these quotes should give you a good idea:

1. "Po Bronson wanted to find out what to do with his life so he started interviewing people who were asking the same question. He wound up writing an excellent self-help book, called, naturally enough, What Should I Do With My Life?, consisting almost entirely of questions instead of slick answers. Here are over 50 short real-life stories of people who woke up and realised that "this is not a dress rehearsal". They took the trouble to ask what life is for, where their real gifts lie and what they really want to do with their lives.

The result is as fascinating and messy as life itself. Some of the people come out on top. They chuck out the routine grind with its dead-end expectations and find out what they are good at, follow their dream and find happiness. Others continue the struggle. They wade through days of confusion. They fight against society's shallow solutions. They battle with their doubts and fears. They kick against the trite expectations of family, friends, employers and lovers to keep up the search for their Holy Grail. Bronson has written up the stories with compassion, insight and sensitivity. But the tales avoid the usual sentimental feel-good factor that seems to be a requisite for self-help books. Instead we're shown the truth that following the impossible dream always has a price. Bronson mixes his sensitivity with a certain gritty reality and ironically this realism inspires other questing heroes much more than yet more syrupy positive thinking. This is a fresh, spiky book; an excellent kick start for anyone who wants to confront life's big questions."

2. "Po Bronson tackles the biggest, most threatening, most obvious question that anyone has to face, ‘what should I do with my life?’

It is a problem that is increasingly encountered not just by the young but by people who have half their lives or more behind them. The modern route to self-discovery is to trade what you have for a completely different way of life, to face the challenges and finally confront our real aims and desires.

Bronson’s book is a fascinating account of finding and following people who have uprooted their lives and fought with these questions in radical ways. From the investment banker who gave it all up to become a catfish farmer in Mississippi, to the chemical engineer from Walthamstow who decided to become a lawyer in his sixties; these stories of individual dilemma and dramatic – and sometimes unsuccessful – gambles are bound up with Bronson’s account of his own search for a calling."
 
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