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[MBTI General] Finding true meaning…

Avocado

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If you read any of this, please post. Even if something is short…I'd like to read it…

I've been struggling with feelings of meaninglessness. Nothing is interesting to me anymore. I used to love traveling and trying new things, but even that just seems useless to me anymore. Nothing makes me feel good. It seems like I'm not going anywhere in life. I feel useless. I feel tired and listless.

By and large, I feel physically and emotionally drained. The only part of me that seems to keep running like the energizer bunny on a hamster wheel is my mind. My mind is on the other end of the spectrum…racing…

Or at least it was until recently…

Even that seems to be slowing down…




I just want to know if any if you have gone through this…




I need to find something to be inspired by…




Sincerely,
Magic Qwan of the 7w6 ENFP so-called funhouse…









PS: I sometimes do feel some slight feeling of happiness if I'm helpful or creating something, but it is a temporary fix…
 

Avocado

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I wonder…
Could it be my attempt at objectivity that is bringing me down?
 

mintleaf

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Those feelings are very familiar to me, but I've never found a lasting solution, so I can't give you any good first-hand advice. There are so many platitudes I could throw at you, but all I really know is that keeping a consistent, healthy sleep schedule is extremely important, and that trying to suppress your feelings will always backfire. Meditation is also probably a good idea, to restore some order to your mind. I haven't made it a regular part of my routine because I never have much time alone, but the few times I've meditated it's been helpful.

How long have you felt this way? Do you remember what triggered it?
 

Avocado

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Those feelings are very familiar to me, but I've never found a lasting solution, so I can't give you any good first-hand advice. There are so many platitudes I could throw at you, but all I really know is that keeping a consistent, healthy sleep schedule is extremely important, and that trying to suppress your feelings will always backfire. Meditation is also probably a good idea, to restore some order to your mind. I haven't made it a regular part of my routine because I never have much time alone, but the few times I've meditated it's been helpful.

How long have you felt this way? Do you remember what triggered it?

I don't quite remember…

I guess it started when I was about 14, then got really bad the past year (The turn for the worse was sometime last summer). I am now 17, so I'm going on my third year. Many things could have caused it…

I am struggling with spiritual issues, as well…
I started looking at other viewpoints, and I just can't come to a full resolution.

I am…


The past few days, my mental landscape has been very murky…



I'll start to think something, then it just slips out of my grasp…



I completely lost my train of thought for the middle part of this…

I'll say that my brain works like a board of philosophers that hate each other and they always argue becuase they have different viewpoints. Nothing gets done. If I use an office building analogy, papers and files are strewn about the floor, all the workers are running about…
…phones are ringing, but nobody is there to awnser, since there are fires that keep popping into existence like hot popcorn kernels.

The records vault had guilt and indecision come in as a wave and water damage the files. The rationalization team, which take the form of anthropomorphic wolves, are on strike.

The values department manager is home sick and there is an earthquake…









Anyway, I now remember one of the things I need from you:
Tell me what you do to meditate.

We can work through this mess together.

I can search for things that work and relay them to you.



ENFP and INFP aren't too different. Similar things could work…
 

Lady_X

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I don't quite remember…

I guess it started when I was about 14, then got really bad the past year (The turn for the worse was sometime last summer). I am now 17, so I'm going on my third year. Many things could have caused it…

I am struggling with spiritual issues, as well…
I started looking at other viewpoints, and I just can't come to a full resolution.

I am…


The past few days, my mental landscape has been very murky…



I'll start to think something, then it just slips out of my grasp…



I completely lost my train of thought for the middle part of this…

I'll say that my brain works like a board of philosophers that hate each other and they always argue becuase they have different viewpoints. Nothing gets done. If I use an office building analogy, papers and files are strewn about the floor, all the workers are running about…
…phones are ringing, but nobody is there to awnser, since there are fires that keep popping into existence like hot popcorn kernels.

The records vault had guilt and indecision come in as a wave and water damage the files. The rationalization team, which take the form of anthropomorphic wolves, are on strike.

The values department manager is home sick and there is an earthquake…









Anyway, I now remember one of the things I need from you:
Tell me what you do to meditate.

We can work through this mess together.

I can search for things that work and relay them to you.



ENFP and INFP aren't too different. Similar things could work…
Shit.. That's a very well painted picture. I know exactly what you mean.

I'm too sleepy brained to say much else but I know the feeling..damn
 

21%

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:hug:

Is there something that is bothering you deep down? Usually when I feel like that I am struggling with something else. You mentioned spiritual issues -- maybe that is the real cause?
 
S

Stansmith

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Just LIVE and things will sort themselves out. You'll eventually find something.
 

INTP

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Personally i dont think that there is some inherit meaning in life. However there are ways to make your life meaningful, but how to do that depends on the person. Some people find meaning in serving others, some find it from trying to make the world around you a better place, some find it from understanding the world, some from just enjoying life till it lasts etc etc.

Here is one view of the topic; “As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.” - Jung
 

Vilku

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interesting, im kinda feeling something similar these past few days.

im just tired of everything, im tired of dealing with problems, tired of dealing with feelings, everything. what happens then, is, that my mind starts racing crazy on all kinds of useless thoughts just to distract myself from all of my problems, and i cant stop it, i cant sleep when i feel like sleeping.. my sleeping rhythm is ruined. my head feels like im turning into a zombie.

it has happened to me before too, once it went so bad that all i did was sleep, shower and eat. and i literally once slept 22 hours streak, then spent 1 hour awake to eat and shower, then repeat. i did it for some time, i had just lost all my hopes but i couldnt bring myself to end the suffering so i gave up in a different way.

im trying to realize that feelings dont have to be all bad, that i could imagine all kinds of sweet things. but the problem is, always when things start getting better, that i allow myself to feel, inevitably the bad stuff will surface and contaminate all that was good.

when it comes to inherent meaning of life, i think life is a story. just like the books we read, except youre the main character. and sometimes the story goes bad.. but i guess we have no choice but to recover, somehow.

and i dont fall asleep out of calm, i fall asleep out of mental exhaustion, until my brains just cant keep it up anymore.
 

mintleaf

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Anyway, I now remember one of the things I need from you:
Tell me what you do to meditate.

We can work through this mess together.

I can search for things that work and relay them to you.



ENFP and INFP aren't too different. Similar things could work…

That might be a good idea. :)

I don't know much about meditation. What I usually do is find someplace comfortable to sit, close my eyes, and concentrate on breathing deeply. I'm going to try these techniques soon.

I also wanted to tell you that it's okay to feel empty and drained for a while. Emotions are so fluid -- I lose them for what feel like extraordinarily long periods of time, but they always come back. I just have to figure out how to maintain them.
 

Lark

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Just LIVE and things will sort themselves out. You'll eventually find something.

Aye, I'm inclined to go with that.

Did you take the 1000 things challenge? That is listing 1000 thing you want to do in life?

You can think life is meaningless and you've seen and done it all until you try and put it all down on paper.
 

Mole

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Well, we are meaning creating animals and we prefer any meaning to no meaning.

Other animals function on instinct but we function on meaning.

And we are inter-subjective, meaning creating animals.

And so we continue to seek meaning with other inter-subjective animals, quite like my friends, Badger, Ratty, Toad and my good self.

And while we seek meaning together, we picnic beside the river, enjoying ourselves.
 

Avocado

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Well, we are meaning creating animals and we prefer any meaning to no meaning.

Other animals function on instinct but we function on meaning.

And we are inter-subjective, meaning creating animals.

And so we continue to seek meaning with other inter-subjective animals, quite like my friends, Badger, Ratty, Toad and my good self.

And while we seek meaning together, we picnic beside the river, enjoying ourselves.

I see.

Existentialism is something I must look into…


Existentialism sounds better than Nihilism by a longshot. I found this and thought it would be better to work towards than something as ghastly as a life without meaning. I suppose that part of my trouble was overuse of my tertiary function, Te. Te is a valuable tool for navigating bureaucratic jungles of red taped vines, but very depressing to deal with for a long time at a time. My inferior, Si, has also been taxed lately. School should be starting soon, so I didn't get enough rest this summer, but next summer, I'll be off to college. I am thinking teaching.
 

Avocado

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Now, I am thinking INFJ...
 

Honor

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Magic, I wish I could send you a link to my college graduation speech, but it's on Facebook - I can't link to it because of my privacy settings. However, I will tell you the gist of what I said at the end after a speech about finding my way through college and separating my parents' ambitions for me from my own ambitions for myself.

"If you keep making decisions that are connected and authentic, then ultimately, your dots will connect. However painful the process might be, you will end up with the life that you are supposed to live, and it will be all the more enjoyable because of that. I'll leave you all on this graduation day with a quote that a friend often repeated to me in my four years here: 'There's no place you can be in which you aren't meant to be.' Wherever you go in life after this, my hope is that you end up where you're truly meant to be."

The less sentimental on this forum might say it's cheesy, but I think it answers your question. You can't will meaning into your life. Finding meaning in your life is a series of realizations that occur over a period time. But if the manner in which you choose friendships, work, and leisure activities is connected with what's in your soul (and that includes considering practical or strategic factors if that's important to you), eventually things will come together. The process requires a lot of faith, though.
 

Avocado

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Magic, I wish I could send you a link to my college graduation speech, but it's on Facebook - I can't link to it because of my privacy settings. However, I will tell you the gist of what I said at the end after a speech about finding my way through college and separating my parents' ambitions for me from my own ambitions for myself.

"If you keep making decisions that are connected and authentic, then ultimately, your dots will connect. However painful the process might be, you will end up with the life that you are supposed to live, and it will be all the more enjoyable because of that. I'll leave you all on this graduation day with a quote that a friend often repeated to me in my four years here: 'There's no place you can be in which you aren't meant to be.' Wherever you go in life after this, my hope is that you end up where you're truly meant to be."

The less sentimental on this forum might say it's cheesy, but I think it answers your question. You can't will meaning into your life. Finding meaning in your life is a series of realizations that occur over a period time. But if the manner in which you choose friendships, work, and leisure activities is connected with what's in your soul (and that includes considering practical or strategic factors if that's important to you), eventually things will come together. The process requires a lot of faith, though.

Thank you...

My mother is always telling me how lazy I am, but I feel like I work pretty hard...
I don't have siblings to compare myself to...
...so, I'm not sure...
 

Honor

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Thank you...

My mother is always telling me how lazy I am, but I feel like I work pretty hard...
I don't have siblings to compare myself to...
...so, I'm not sure...
lol, this particular issue isn't really about hard work
 

Honor

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What is it?
it's basically about following your heart and being patient. of course, there is work involved in following your dreams but, that's not what i meant
 

Avocado

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it's basically about following your heart and being patient. of course, there is work involved in following your dreams but, that's not what i meant

LOL...
I always thought because I'm a strong ENFP and she is a strong ExTJ...

Well, she chides me for not being focused, not being tidy, and not being outwardly serious...

She might say something like, "You are so lazy, how do you expect to go off to college?"
I always tell her that I am working on being more systematized and efficient, but I can never deliver on that...





I am pretty sure that my mother is ENTJ, and my step-father is ESTJ. I originally thought my mother was an F because she was somewhat feminine, but closely observing her, she looks like a female Te-dom...

She's different from my step father, though...
She is a little more out of the box, a little less "by the book", a little wild...
My step-father is really somebody I can't seem to have positive relations with...
He is aggressive, angry, and difficult to understand...

Both are very driven, though...

I'm glad I have their types down with certainty, and it's funny that my mother is my second-least favorite type, and my step-father is my least favorite type...
My mother has a nice side to her, at least...
...So it's not completely cold here...
 
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