I Feel Like My Life Has No Meaning, What Can I Do?

The meaning of life can be described from four constructions: one purpose, significance, connection and value.

First of all, we talk about meaning as a purpose, meaning as the direction we want our life to take, an orientation. For our life to be given meaning, it must be directed to a goal, a goal. Secondly, we must give this address one meaning, to ask ourselves if something in this direction attracts us and leads us towards it. Next we must establish a connection of this meaning, look for a cause or a reason, because nothing happens without a sufficient reason, establish a cause that justifies why it should be this way and not otherwise. Finally, meaning glimpses a value, that is, the value we give to this meaning It is what leads us to believe that it is worth it.

Normally, the appreciation that our lives have no meaning is born in the face of certain “meaningless” situations such as the death of a loved one, a disappointment, a failure,… certain crisis events that make us feel empty and disillusioned. When we perceive that our lives have no meaning and we experience these feelings of emptiness, a set of emotions and actions are born in us that increase these sensations:

1. Sadness: a feeling of sadness invades us, without knowing how to decipher what specifically it is that is making you sad, we cannot isolate a reason. This sadness leads us to feelings of hopelessness and emptiness.
2. Ignorance of oneself: we perceive that we do not know ourselves as well as we thought, we begin to observe that we are lost, that we do not know how to get out of this situation, we ask ourselves: who are we? Where are we going? what do we want to do in this world? and it seems that we do not find an answer to any of these questions.
3. Anhedonia: You lose all the interest you previously had in those activities that made you enjoy, you lose interest in relationships, you find pleasure in nothing. Therefore, a feeling of boredom arises in the face of all action and you easily become anxious about things.
4. Loss of liability: along with the feeling of anhedonia and sadness, the person loses all sense of responsibility and stops committing. She does not see in herself the possibility of growth, of expanding as a person, and therefore, she does not risk or live new experiences.
5. Dissatisfaction: Faced with all this set of factors, the person feels dissatisfied with their life, but does not know how to redirect it.
6. Isolation: Feelings of sadness, lack of interest, responsibility and commitment, and frustration with dissatisfaction with your life lead to greater social isolation.

Discovering the meaning of our lives requires great work, it can be work that requires a lifetime, with the need to a great introspection. When this is reached, we find our reason for being, our ikigai, which gives us happiness and motivation in our daily lives. That your search is such an extensive path does not mean that the path to achieve it is not full and does not allow us to taste happiness and motivation. We must find those facts that make us feel that life is worth it, that fill us with self-realization, but how can I reach it?

When was the last time you thought about what your feelings, your desires, your defects, your virtues are,…? We find ourselves in liquid society, as Zygmunt Bauman well described, and we walk through it on tiptoe, immersed in constant changes and surrounded by numerous stimuli that prevent us from stopping and thinking about ourselves. We cannot achieve our meaning if we cannot stop to think in ourselves, therefore, the first step is stop to get to know each other.

It is true that if things do not work at work, for example, if we feel uncomfortable with our boss, we wonder what could have happened, what situation has generated this distance, what could be done to change it,… In this circumstance we must act in the same way. mode. We must consider how long we have been feeling this emptiness, what things in our life are not working As we would like, if these elements have a solution and if we cannot apply this solution, we must ask ourselves why we cannot carry it out. It is important to try to know What is this feeling of emptiness due to? because it has suddenly appeared if it was not there before, what has caused it and what is maintaining it.

If the answer to the previous question lies in your life, if you think that the reason that leads you to this emptiness is that you don’t like how you are living, start by asking yourself What would you change about your life today? In order to start living fully, what is the dream that you would have always been able to achieve; What could you do to start fulfilling it?

On the other hand, we cannot expect our lives to be different if we do not put our effort into it. To achieve different things, we must change our way of doing things. Take risks with new experiences and learning.

We must be aware that the first action in order to achieve our dreams and the meaning of our lives is to take responsibility for ourselves. It is important to do responsible for the consequences of our actions and lead them independently, because self-leadership will help us give meaning to our lives.

Isolation favors all these feelings of sadness and hopelessness, we are all social beings and we need each other to be able to live fully and feel full and happy. Take advantage of your relationships to foster feelings of affection, love and happiness.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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