Anyone else feel like they don't have a purpose in life?

Sometimes our purpose can seem intangible.

For example, you, @Chocolatesnowman2 are an inspiration.

God, having kids has ruined my purpose in life! Can't do any of the old hobbies etc and it's made me unhappy. Although of course having kids does give you another purpose.

The easiest sense of purpose is in having kids, but then that'll oy last til they leave and it's not a good idea if it's your only motivation.

Life doesn't have a purpose so you can decide what to do with yours. Do you want to make a difference to people or animals, do you want to be thrilled by experiences, do you want to feel you are having fun every day, do you want to see what your body is physically capable of, do you want to expand your mind or learn new things?

I think without DC I'd definitely retrain if you can afford a drop in income for a while. Not only would it give you a new career you'd get new experiences, meet new people, learn more about yourself and your capabilities.

Or you could find activities that bring you joy and make sure you're doing one each day.

Yes. Make some time for joy.
A sport, a hobby, an evening class.
You can clean when you are old.

Also, OP, if you're cleaning every day, then you're doing way too much cleaning! Ditch the vacuum cleaner a few days a week, and do something more interesting. Get a hobby, or volunteer.

None of us "have a purpose in life". We're born, we breathe in and out for a few decades, and then we die. That's it.
If we're lucky, we might have an interesting job or some fun times along the way. But we have no intrinsic purpose.

Can you afford a life coach?

Sorry I quoted the wrong post. Using the internet is not my purpose!

My life is like this. I have a purpose, it's to look after another person until I drop dead (which I hope for some days)
To the outside world I'm living a life of drudgery, poverty and pity, they call me a saint and tell me how they couldn't do it. But that's my purpose I guess. It does get me up in the mornings.

No help except I’m 37 with a child and feel the same! Every evening I feel sad and have done since I finished work on the 18th. Have one more week left off work and dreading going back!

I think this is why I had children. I loved my 20's...parties, travelling, career but I also knew if I was to do that for the rest of my life it would get boring and you'd question your purpose in life. Not that children are the only answer but it's a well trodden path for sure.

I know exactly what you mean. I've never had a purpose and feel like I've bumbled through life and fallen into jobs/careers, of which there have been many 😂

However at the grand old age of 53 I discovered I have ADHD and that ND people struggle with future planning.

I used to wonder why I couldn't make one year, five year, ten year life plans. I don't know how I'll feel or what I'll want next week let alone in five years time. I couldn't even buy a Christmas decoration, that was on sale, to put up next year because, well who knows what'll be happening next year, will I still be here, will I want to put up decorations, will I even like that style of decoration next year?

I think same goes for having a purpose. Some days my purpose is putting one foot in front of the other and other days I want to save the world.

Life is a funny old thing. What is the point of us? 😂

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I spent my teenage years dreaming of the wonderful career I was going to have ..my life was mapped out
30 years later I'm a SAHM , because my adult kids have autism and are not in work or education and can't be left alone .
They will never live independently and I worry myself sick what will happen to them when I'm dead .
Then there are the days were I feel useless and worthless and good for nothing except cleaning and cooking ,and I'm not very good at that either .
I had such a shit childhood too ..
I very often think what is the point of me and I've no real purpose or reason to be anywhere.
I suppose all any of us can do is one step in front of another and keep plodding on

Not helpful, but how you're feeling is as old as time. Henry David Thoreau, 1854: “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation”. Definition of quiet desperation: endless monotony; a deep-seated feeling of stagnation, where daily tasks become a repetitive loop, devoid of excitement or growth, leading to feelings of irrelevance in the grander narrative of life.

I dont really believe anyone has a purpose. Even if you have one, does it mean that's your purpose forever or does it change?

Pay for a cleaner.
Use the time for something more enjoyable or purposeful:
Music?
Time in nature?
Socialising?
Change career, re train or spend time learning?

At 38 I had a two year old child so didn't have time or energy for existential questions. In that sense, parenthood does help.

Do you have any hobbies or sports?

Absolutely this! I have a dog and although I love her, the commitment and sheer hard work involved are immense!

There’s no purpose. We’ve just made life extremely complicated. Just live your life and try to enjoy it. Unless you’re a very high profile figure, no-one will remember your name in 100 years time. So we become pretty much forgotten. You just have to make peace with that.

A question I often ask myself is if I was lying on my death bed five years from now, what would I have wished that today's me had done? I.e. if you only had five years to live, what changes would you make? I imagine booking a holiday will be high on the list! But maybe there is some other stuff too?

Booking a holiday is invariably the right option 😂

You need to volunteer!
seeing how shite other people’s lives are puts it into perspective and you will meet a new circle of friends

Join a choir. It's joyous. Perfect remedy for this weather.

Life is meaningless. Of course it is. You just need to face up to that and then find some private set of objectives that give you direction in the chaos. It could be anything. In Camus' novel The Plague it is spitting at cats for one guy, saving lives for another, writing a perfect sentence for a third. For me, at the moment, it is fabric crafts.