to have a nice life but still feel deep disatisfaction?

[BlueIvy]

What do you do for fun, but in a deeper, more fulfilling way? I dont mean going to the pub or going on holiday etc - I mean, what do you loom forward to? What are you passionate about?

I am very bored of myself.

I have a lovely husband, decent house, two great kids, paid work and some good friends.

Yes, life has its ups and downs. Family problems (extended), illness (me), money worries (almost sorted now) and DS has behavioural difficulties, which can be very wearing.

Bt nothing is really wrong with my life, I am just deeply bored.

I spend a lot of time on my computer, on MN or just surfing aimlessly. I don't feel like reading any more (used to be an avid reader, but just cannot seem to settle down into a book these days) I don't seem to have any interests...

Its easy to say 'join a club', but when do I have the time? I work , come home, get kids sorted, eat myself, am lucky if I squeeze in a bath or a bit of exercise...then start all over again, preparing for the next busy day.

I have toyed with the idea of writing (used to be a journalist), but never seem to have the space or mental quiet to really get stuck in.

What do other people do? For fun? For fulfillment?

I can see I am coming across like a bit of a twat here...I;'m not complaining and not unhappy...just profoundly bored.

Why don't you look for activities that are aesthetically creative and pleasing/fulfilling? It sounds as if your work is very draining and grey; you need some colour and complexity in your life.

Gardening, cooking, decorating, reinventing your own look are all starting points.

Areyou sure no physical cause to how you are feeling--an underactive thyroid gland can make you feel very flat?might be worth getting it checked......

How about reading a good book on decorating and moving all your furniture and decorations around to change the look of your home? Change is good!

Suggest thinking of something you want to do/try - anything (read some of the many 'what to do now I"m retired ' books) and make a little bit of time for it. This is me time. As a working Mum imo it's easy to just do everything for others including job and it's never ending so hard to feel fulfilling.

Just making the time for this me time will make you feel you have achieved something.

Also, as stated above, exercise/ walking/ running/ swimming make you feel good and gradual improvement makes for a sense of achievement - also it is just for you.

I get very antsy if I don't have a project (or three).

I like aims and goals. So I couldn't just say I'll start running, I'd have to put my name down for a fun run or aomehting and then train.

Perhaps you need to set yourself some really challenging goals op?

How about joining a choir? There are loads of different ones around now, geared at people who don't read music as well as people who do. I sing one night a week, and although I sometimes have to mentally force myself out of the house to get to it, I really enjoy it once I'm there.

I am considering volunteering which I know i would enjoy. if you google jobcentreplus and put in your area there are hundreds of opportunites there.
Or what about cooking? I mean really putting the effort in to find new recipes and put your heart into it. (should take own advice emoticon).

I echo those who said exercise and also Bonsoir's suggestions.
I think with two children and a full time demanding job you don't need more commitments i.e. in organizations.

Exercise will make you feel fab and the small things like decorating etc too.

Wear colours that you wouldn't usually wear, do things that are new to you, cook new recipes, visit areas that you don't usually go, watch different type of film/play.

Give the writing a go!!!

I also used to be a journalist and now work in an average job that fits in with the family etc etc.

I started writing fiction again last year for the first time since my teens/early twenties and it has made such a massive difference to my life I can't even begin to tell you.

There is a fabulous website here where you can publish what you write and get feedback from other amateur writers (many on there have gone pro too!) - you can hook up to it through Twitter which enables you to promote your stuff and get in touch with more writers and readers.

It is such a huge buzz to see your readership levels as you get into it, receive comments and 'meet' new people through Twitter. I know am in touch with people in America, Canada, Europe and Japan off the back of my new hobby, and had a story in site's top 20 before Christmas!

I've been lucky enough to rearrange my working hours so I now have a day 'home alone' to write each week (I don't always write but it's nice to have the option), and am hoping to self-publish my first ebook on Kindle in the next couple of months.

Sorry - hijacked a bit there - but it has just made such a big difference to my life and confidence levels I'd really recommend having a go!

Oh I didn't see you want to write.

Do it!!!!!

I started my first book when my DC were small and I felt too much of my days were taken up reacting to their needs. I needed a focus elsewhere.

I bloody loved writing that book. I wrote it during my lunch hours at work, at soft play, in the park, you name it....it allowed me to tap into all that unused creative energy..and then some.

As a nice aside, I had that book publihsed and have had plenty more since!

Second joining a choir - I did when in a similar spot and it's made a huge difference to my mental health. Now I'm a member of two. It taps into creativity and it demands just an evening a week of you, an evening which you have to guard preciously as your own, paying for babysitters if necessary to enable you to go. Try to keep off the web, it saps energy and concentration skills (fine one to talk )

I work 31 hours per week
I am President Elect of my Rotary Club - will be president next year. This takes up a lot of my spare time
I run my own cake business from home which I am just starting to expand
I have a 2 year old
I have a food blog but that doesn't get updated much
We have an allotment
I do a casual job as a duty manager in a hotel for 1-2 shifts a week which I love

We don't have a TV and I am very selective about what I watch on Iplayer. I have a Kindle and read a lot. Also I don't sleep much !

Horses are my passion....unfortunately, I think, you cant just 'get' passionate about something...its normally deep within you. I cant imagine life without my horse- every since I can remember I was obsessed by them. But I also love just being outdoors. Do lots of off-road cycling and running (when not injured by the other two things!)

BLueIvy

Cycling? I've been feeling down, lethargic and anxious of late and I'm joining a local cycling group, to meet new people and hopefully jump start some of the serotonin. It isn't a massive time commitment either (hour or two a week)

Apologies, if your illness precludes this and I have been massively insensitive.

I would really plug church too and the Alpha course is great. Usually starts with a meal and socialising and then talking about life and it's meaning in a really laid back and open way. Just gives you an opportunity to ask any questions you want. Exercise too....I need to do more of this!

Do some volunteering....get involved with your local community.

I have never been bored.

At 20 I started work; at 21 I bought and redeveloped a flat, by 23 I was becoming successful at work; I toyed with politics and joined the conservative party and became active politically for several years and met lots and lots of interesting people - past a present cabinet members. I have always been deeply spiritual and attended church and have been a school governor before and after dc.

In my late 20s I met DH and have been married for 21 years. As a SAHM I was chair of the pta, ran a sunday school and playgroup, was a non executive director of the local health trust and pct, and treasurer for a local organisation.

I went back to work when youngest started school and have taken professional qualifications and an mba since. I am also a member of the pcc and sit on the local diocesan board of education.

I love art, cookery, reading, children, our home, dh, current affairs, walking, gardening, spring, summer, autumn and winter. I have never ever been bored.

Horses again for me
I train and school and compete. Also go the gym but don't enjoy that half as much. Get deep satisfaction from sweaty me, sweaty horse and aching muscles

gardening is great. it gets you out in the open.
growing things of beauty from seed always fills me with a huge sense of achievement.
you can start small (a few tubs of herbs perhaps) and let it take more of your time as you get more interested and skilled.

I agree about the gardening. I have started with the front of my house. It lifts my mood immediately when I come home and see a few well planted pots prettying up the place!

My dog has been a massive source of well being. We walk him twice a day (me or DH or together) often with the DCs. Has done wonders for my mental health, exercising in the open air that much and getting that much furry love and unbounded, unstressed affection. Everything else has to go on hold until I get home when I walk him.

I read too. Mostly detective novels but I have to watch out because if I read to many in a row I start feeling a bit dark.

2011 was a very tough year mental health wise for me and I've started some homework using a self help book recommended by my therapist. It has worked wonders but has been hard work too, iykwim.

Ivy, are you asking what is the "point of life", slightly different from what do with it or ask what you enjoy doing?

Tomorrow I am mostly going to go up Oxford Street and play about and maybe try on loads of make-up and pretend to be a lady-who-lunches. Thats good fun.

But, the meaning of life, ah well ....

I kind of feel the same. Just bored and waiting for some excitement to happen.

So anyway we're looking into emigrating. Not even sure where yet or if will ever happen, but it's exciting to plan

This might be a complete crapshoot OP, but could the boredom be the early symptoms of depression?

I suffered with depression in my 20s and one of the earliest warning signs was/is that I became lethargic and unable to motivate myself to do things I used to enjoy, just feeling numb to every experience. Reading books/listening to records I knew I loved and just feeling nothing.

At the time nothing was ostensibly wrong, but it became a viscous circle, the less I wanted to do, the more I would beat myself up over it. Thankfully the gaps between these periods just got longer and longer and I began to see them for what they were.

I am not saying this is the cause of your current feelings, but I wouldn't dismiss it as a possibility and not worry about it too much.

p.s. You could read about "existential angst". You could trace it back to your childhood. So many angels, I mean angles.