You work and then you die?

I've been doing a lot of thinking... like most people, I have a full time job. I work 40+ hours a week, 8+ a day, come home, and rest for the next day of work. It seems like life it just taken up with work, work, work... like, what's the point? Right now I have no choice but to work in fast food since I don't own a car and its the only job I can get within walking/biking distance. My boyfriend and I live together, both work long hours, and it seems like all we do is work... where is the enjoyment in life, besides the little moments? it just seems like I'm wasting away...
any advice? Like, how to make things easier or something?

 

I 've been asking the same stuff, but what keep me alive it's my music and freediving, you got to find something that you really like and do it with love, work is something else, if you got something to hold on, it easier to get along, for me it works, I am waiting anxiously for the weekend to do what i really like, try it.

 

Work is a fact of life as is the choice to eat vs not eating. Also if we choose not to, we may choose to be homeless. That would be worse than boredom. If you are bored with your job, try to focus on things you do like about it instead of how it sucks. Fast food, a positive is meeting new people. Approach others with a smile and sometimes strike up conversation as you would be surprised how many people go out to eat for interaction and to meet new people instead of being alone. Also maybe look for a job you would enjoy more as it could be the job.

 

I'm still a student and I'm in grade 10 but I have already given it a lot of thought. I'm afraid that I will grow up to be one of the people who dedicate their lives to work. The best I can do is probably is become a musician and make money on it(the chances are obviously not huge), which is why I started playing bass and got into a band, and I guess I'll give you the same advice. But I'm not naive enough to truly believe in it give up my life just for the music, because I'm afraid it might not work, but its better try than to regret later.

 

quit your job

live forever

what if they held a job interview and nobody came?

[edited to add jobless since 1994]

 

Move to Europe, you are going to fall victim to the American 'dream'; Go to school the first 22 years of your life, move to a small suburban area with loved one, rot and work a 9-5 job for the next 20 years of your life, then die.

Whats so great about this "American dream"?

Keeps us out of the governments way.

 

Don't have any advice, I'm still going through this myself. I'm not interested in merely existing. If that's all life really is, then I've got no reason to live. Most people find meaning in their lives through their children. I'm personally not interested in children. What keeps me going is my work outside of work in the hope (though it feels sometimes in vain) that one day my goals will be accomplished.

For me, that's everything. There are organizations that ask young athletes that are about to go into professional sports, "what do you want your legacy to be?" This is a question that I ask others and myself on a regular basis. Some people know the answer, some people have answers that change either because they're unfocused or because they don't know, and you have people like me that do know, but struggle to get there.

On the other hand, it is the struggle that makes us who we are and the struggle that gives people character. If everything were easy, what would be the fucking point? It's like playing a video game with all of the cheat codes on. That's the only way I find meaning in my stupid little life.

If you want meaning in your life, you have to know what it is that you want. Asking a blank question like "what's the point?" in and of itself is pointless if one has no direction in which to point their actions. Figure out what out want, figure out how to get it and then... do it!

I know this guy; he wants to be a musician. Good for him, whatever. He got this girl knocked up when he was about 18 or so he became a young dad. Novel story, I know. He often would get angry/upset/depressed and blame his girlfriend for getting pregnant because he could no longer focus on his music "career". Never-you-mind that this is an utterly silly and inane, the point I'm making is that he resented the situation that he was in… that in order to do the music thing, it would be much tougher to achieve and that it if he achieved it, that career would complicated his family life.

Here's the catch, if he wants to do it, he would or he will just do it. Having children is by no means a new thing, and using them as an excuse for why one can't do this or that or whatever (like how people often will say they have no time for exercise because they have children) is also not new. However, pointing that finger at yourself and saying "I'm not strong enough to continue to try to do what I want," or “I don’t want to put in the effort that’s necessary in order to get what I want,” is not something you often hear.

If you try and fail, if you make a valiant effort and fall short, well then maybe you have something to complain about. At this point, if you haven't even tried to find that greater meaning… then I don’t see how it’s any different than someone taking credit for work they haven’t yet accomplished.



These are just examples, not an attack on your situation. The obvious thing to say would be to somehow find a better job and somehow figure out how to get it. And yes, many people work, and then die. That’s not a terrible tragedy (which I know sounds like a contradiction to what I said earlier). A terrible tragedy is a guy doing his own thing, getting shot in the head for a pair of sneakers. A tragedy is watching a great mind being eaten by disease. If you don’t want a boring life, you obviously have to change something in order to make it more exciting.

However, if what you’re looking is for life to suddenly get easier, I can guarantee you that it’ll never happen. Once you solve one problem, new ones always pop up, some that you can anticipate, and other in ways you wont. New conflicts always arise and there is a myriad of ways that they can spring up from nowhere. I don't have the cheat codes for life and anyone claiming to have them is either religious, a liar or a scam artist.

Well, I suppose I did have advice.

 

Here's my two cents... find the right road you want to journey on, and follow it. There are suggestions and guideline to get where you want to be, but NO RULES. If you can take the time to really think about what you want to be doing, then you'll find a way to do it.

I say all of this from experience - I'm a high school dropout with 3 kids who travels the world and makes a 6-figure income. I've had my moments of doubt, but I never stopped following the road. Now I'm living my dream, and I hope to retire in my 50's. That may not be your road, but the first step in getting to where you want to be is picturing the destination. The road will show itself soon enough after that. DON'T accept the traditional "work 9 to 5 until you die" road. There are SO many more options out there.

 

I think thwt when we´re young we have to work just like you. Flipping burguers for a bunch of assholes. But, if you save some money... you can buy a second-hand car and then get a better job. Then you save more money (quickly now) and buy a house in the countryside. Then learn how to grow your favourite vegetables and live forever. Maybe still working, to pay your stuff... but thats what ive been thinking this days

 

Its just getting harder. it feels like those forty hours I work, I'm not even alive; I'm not doing anything; i'm brain dead, just wasting away. I want out of this vicious cycle...

 

well nailpolish...you must be the change you wish to see in the world. wink.

I know what i see. lots of people not living their life purpose. And I know what i wish to see...lots of people living their life purpose.
so how do you see the world?... and then you may want to ask, how do you wish to see the world?

 

I want to be an artist, I want to be a writer. I want to see the world, go hiking, hang out with friends, learn, etc.
Right now I work at Jack in the Box... I work +40 hours a week, over eight hours a day... everyday at work seems meaningless. I sit there for eight hours, saying over and over "Welcome to Jack in the Box..."....
it feels like my mind is rotting. I want a job like agriculture where I'm actually doing something, actually accomplishing something, learning something, making something of myself. Problem is, none of those kinds of jobs are available. I wish I could make a living off my art, but unless I become the next Da Vinci I'm just one in a million artists, a dime a dozen.
I've tried to so hard to encourage myself at work; telling myself that when i get home I'll smoke a bowl, paint, read, and meditate. But then the cycle starts all over again; arrive at work, rot away for eight torturous hours, go home, sleep, preparing for the next day.
its the only job I can get within walking distance. I
m saving for a car, but times are so tight right now that may never happen. Not to mention I'm a terrible driver. And even if I do get a car, that doesn't garentee I'll get my dream job. I went to college for a while; couldn't handle that plus work, and now I can't even afford college or have the time for it.

 

first off,sounds to me like the real problem is you dont like the job you have.. your young enough you shouldnt be acting like your stuck in a rut because you dont have to be..

you have plenty of time to experiment with possible careers,find something you enjoy doing for work,,not just a "job"..

secondly,your looking at it all the wrong way,40 hours a week,a couple hours for commuting is only a third of your life,the rest is what you make it..
if all you choose to do is work eat sleep then thats all your gonna get.its your life,it can only be what you choose to make it...

 

oh i didnt see your last post,,ummm,im not tryin to be harsh but, your job is meaningless..

why on earth are you agonizing over a shit job like jack in the box?

geeze go find somethin ya enjoy,,aint like you would take a pay cut...

tried babysitting? pays good..

i mean anything is better than fast food.. a lot of landscaping companys use women for doin flower beds an such,.

is there not a bus line where you live?

a lot of times if ya can get back and forth a few days to a job ya can befriend someone an maybe share gas or somethin to get to and from after that..

i know ive walked as far as 5 miles to work in the past.. it sucks but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do to better your situation...

 

there's no bus. If i don't work 40 hours I won't be able to pay the bills or buy food. if I don't sleep I won't be able to function. There is no other job available; trust me I've looked.
That's the problem. My job IS MEANINGLESS.

 

i want i want i want....hehe...

so you see the destruction of the earths soil, the planets resources. the cruelty of earths animals and the stupidity in GMO crops.?
can u see yourself loving the earth well? perhaps stuck shit high in cow slap and still singing? or rising at 4 in the morning in the frozen rain, still enthusiastic in your love for gaia?

 

well it wont be forever,keep telling yourself that and keep trying to find something else..

your to young to have the mindset you have. just stay focused on how your going to get out of the rut your in..

is moving to where there are more opportunity's a option? i mean your 19 how settled in can you be?i know it costs to move and yadda yadda but youd be surprised what ya can accomplish with little or no money at your age,hell at any age..

seems to me like you should consider that as a option.

 

wow im sorry about your jack in the box job, nail polish... just keep an eye one the classified ads...hopefully you will find something that works better for you in your waiting time before you can accomplish your dreams... one idea my brother is looking into also as writer, is substitute teaching... some places dont even require a full time teachers to have any certification, like private catholic schools and such...so the substitutes need even less, and something like that would be a hell of a lot more satisfying than asking if they want ketchup with that....
Agruculture is the thing i want to do as well, i want to build a small forest garden capable of sustaining me and myself somewhere in the NE US, using temperate zoned perennials and such to create a garden of eden... and then have some farms around that for cereal crops and some extra crops for selling...
and i also am an artist, one thing you should try to do is use your arts to supplement your other work... try asking local papers if they pay for small columns to be written... use you gifts and create something that you can be proud of...
...just remeber to keep dreaming of that ideal job and lifestyle that will bring you real freedom, or you will continue to sit on a stool in a deadend meaningless job... and nobody wants that.... so i wish you the best of luck....
...be excellent

 

NailPolish, you're still young and I think, you're a fairly intelligent person. Those are your advantages.

Each one of us has some kind of innate talent. Find that. It's your personal journey. You think you're stuck in a rut? All things change.

Best of luck.
stev

 

I'm merely answering the people who asked what i want to do in life. I wasn't saying "want" in the sense of material possessions, but goals for myself. Is that selfish?
i'm not sure what you're insiuating...