What brings meaning to your life?

[EggBoxes]

If you have meaning in your life, what is it?
Or do you feel that your life doesn't have any meaning, and if so, how is that for you?

Just 'being' is enough for me. There is so much beauty and joy in the world and I'm grateful to be able to experience it. I don't need any more 'purpose' than that. I have 2 lovely DC, who are challenging at times, and a job I love and supportive relationships with family and friends.

However, I didn't always feel like this. I've suffered from anxiety and depression since I was 13 and experienced some very dark times which involved self-harm and suicide attempts. After lots of therapy and trying various AD's I've come to accept my childhood and early adult life, and who I am now, and have learned to find joy and contentment in the little things. Yes, bad things have happened in the past and, no, it wasn't ok, but I'm not fixated on the pain anymore and letting it dictate how I feel in the present. I've moved on.

My Faith
My Family
Music

My DS and DW, definitely. Life was lonely before them.

My job. I work in a SEN school (not a teacher) and really feel like it has a purpose and I do something important. I'd been searching for that feeling for years and can't imagine working in any other sector now.

The things that I can’t do at the moment:

Seeing friends

hobbies and socialising with the people who do my hobbies

voluntary job - also not allowed for the foreseeable future

college course - abandoned because it became impossible to fit it in with home-schooling children

I’m struggling with the point of life at the moment.

My faith, my family plus extended family and friends.

Helping out where I can.
As PPs have said - sometimes the beauty of the world is so striking and wonderful. Though a lot of sadness too.

My children.
My parents and close family.
My gorgeous dog.

My child
My partner
My family
My friends
My pets
My job

What nandakanda said. Life itself is amazing, we all naturally value it and it's in us to try and preserve it in both ourselves and others. That doesn't mean to say that it doesn't feel like a shitty slog sometimes.

Things that give me a sense of purpose, achievement and fulfilment:

Yoga, swimming, running, reading, writing, martial arts, learning new stuff (languages especially)....

Things that fill me with contentment, make me feel grounded, secure and loved:

My cats, my dog, my partner.

A life with all these things in it is a great life.

Agree with PPs that life itself is amazing. I had an unhappy childhood and hated high school but from the age of 16 have been very content.

From 16- 24 I guess studying made me happy and various groups of friends at college and uni as well as part time jobs and the social life that facilitated. Also house parties, travelling, dancing in indie clubs, waking up in the morning at Glastonbury on a gloriously sunny day after watching amazing bands. Youthful activism and seeing possibilities in the world and relationships which ran their course and ended on (mostly) good terms with lovely guys who helped me learn about myself.

Life has been a series of stages and most (post 16) have been very happy for different reasons. Teens and twenties - great as outlined above, then late 20's and early 30s when I moved to London, met DH, went to lots of gigs and galleries, had lots of boozy work nights out and nights out with new friends was also great. 5 years enjoying the capital pre-kids which was fab.

Then early 30's to now (40) has been about DCs, DH family holidays, home life, staying in, cosy evenings with board games and better wine than I could afford in my 20's, reading, box sets, only occasional gigs and theatres trips but that's all I want or can be bothered with now!

My family.
My faith.
Reading - so many books, so little time.
Singing - nothing like belting out a great song.
Nature - especially water

Helping other women live fulfilled lives (I'm a career coach that specialises in helping women leave corporate jobs they hate and figuring out what they really want to do)

My cats

Being a good wife (not in a Stepford wife sense)

Contributing to my community

Being a good friend

What is nice about this thread is that I have looked at similar threads in the past few weeks/ months about what brings you joy etc, and then thought about how everything in my list is now not possible. In this thread it isn't (well, my point about covid stealing my religious faith is a bit, but I assume it must still be there deep down or I wouldn't have written about it). I am lucky enough to still have my family, a job that has enabled me to leave my house throughout lockdown and speak to other people and do something meaningful which has been incredibly beneficial to my wobbly mental health, and to still most of the time be able to see the beauty in the natural world and appreciate it.

My DC
My DH
Extended family - parents, sister's, in law's etc
My friends
My career - I have recently switched by to doing what I love and what I trained for - I can now help a lot of people
Travelling, having travel plans
My cat
My house

All adds layers to my life

Being by the sea. The natural environment like frogs in our little pond, bees in the flowers, birds singing etc

My relationships with family and friends
My writing (just a hobby)
Enjoying art - film, paintings, theatre, tv, books; doesn’t have to be highbrow, just the fact of enjoying other people expressing themselves
Helping others
Being in nature

My dog, he's all I have and all I need.
@MingeofDeath

Meaning? I know in the big scheme of things my life has no meaning.

However, I have responsibilities, DC, DW and family. If and when I can shed these I will be free to pursue that lack of meaning to it's logical conclusion. Going to be a long time yet though!

Thanks folks.

Boredbumhead - your username just added meaning to my life..

My dogs - love them to bits.

Exercise - ^^. Even on the crappiest day, I always feel amazing after a good long walk in the fresh air. Not going is never an option.

My DH, DC and grandkids - I've got a complex relationship with my Mum, am NC with my sister and my Dad is very self absorbed. Every day I give thanks for them all for being so utterly normal and wonderful.

Really simple things like the wind in my hair, sun on my skin, bird song, blue skies. After a massive healthscare a couple of years ago, I've tried really hard to find the small positives to focus on.

I'm not sure my life has "meaning" perse. I'm generally happy and have goals, a family I love (I have children) but I'm not sure that gives it meaning as such, we are all here to live and die, I don't think I'm going to change the world in any great way. I just want to be a good person, raise my children well and enjoy this world while I am in it!

Being happy, and happiness can mean diff things at diff points in my life and sometimes day to day!

At the min happiness means connections with the people I love and like in my life.

Also being productive, having something to do!

My children. My life literally revolves around them.
Other than my children the things that give life meaning for me are;
Travel - I am always planning a trip whether a staycation or further afield I just love to go to new places but even with travel a large part of that is sharing it with my children.
People - for me life is all about sharing experiences with people. About making memories and those small interactions that make life special. I think no matter what amazing thing you do if you don't have someone to share it with it lessons the value of it. If something good/bad happens in life my first instinct is always to share that with someone I am close to.

My life, my safe happy content life, started to unravel in March 2019, just bit by bit.
In the past when things ever got bad I would "count my blessings" and think about the good things in my life and try and see the positives, but today after yet more bad news, yet another "kick in the gut" I can't see any positives, and nothing seems to have any meaning.
The thought of having to get up tomorrow and put on a brave face and be cheerful for those around me fills me with dread.

Hazel, I hope things are better tomorrow

My faith
My family
My charity work
My pets
My herbalism