What’s our purpose on this life?

r/

What’s the real point of life? Since we were kids, we hear: study, get good grades, make your parents proud. Graduate, go to university, get a respectable job with a good salary, everyone claps for you. Boom, you’re a “success.” You buy a nice car, buy a house, get married. But deep down, there’s a question that won’t go away. You look at your wife and ask yourself: Does she love me? Or does she love what I have? You travel, buy the things you dreamed of, post pictures, people praise you, maybe even get jealous. But when you get back home, and quiet covers the place, when you’re alone, a voice in your head says: Is this all there is? You try to be a good person, help others, go to the mosque or church, pray, give to charity, do good. But there’s a feeling that won’t disappear: if in the end we’re all going to die, what’s the point of all this? I feel like nothing… smaller than a speck of dust in this vast universe. Why am I here? Just to work, chase money, die, and be forgotten? Sometimes I feel like the whole world is an act, it has no real meaning. And if everything’s an act… what’s the point of everything we’re doing?

Comments

  1. AutoModerator Avatar

    📣 Reminder for our users

    >1. Check the rules: Please take a moment to review our rules, Reddiquette, and Reddit’s Content Policy.
    >2. Clear question in the title: Make sure your question is clear and placed in the title. You can add details in the body of your post, but please keep it under 600 characters.
    >3. Closed-Ended Questions Only: Questions should be closed-ended, meaning they can be answered with a clear, factual response. Avoid questions that ask for opinions instead of facts.
    >4. Be Polite and Civil: Personal attacks, harassment, or inflammatory behavior will be removed. Repeated offenses may result in a ban. Any homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist, or bigoted remarks will result in an immediate ban.

    🚫 Commonly Asked Prohibited Question Subjects:

    >1. Medical or pharmaceutical questions
    >2. Legal or legality-related questions
    >3. Technical/meta questions (help with Reddit)

    This list is not exhaustive, so we recommend reviewing the full rules for more details on content limits.

    ✓ Mark your answers!
    >If your question has been answered, please reply with Answered!! to the response that best fit your question. This helps the community stay organized and focused on providing useful answers.


    I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

  2. The-Sugarfoot Avatar

    Life means whatever meaning you give it.

    I know, it’s terrifying to have that much power and control. Most forfeit it and live a life someone else chooses for them. Only the truly courageous will forge their own path.

    Good luck! You got this!

  3. astroprof Avatar

    Do you mean “what is the meaning of life”? That’s easy: to make it an even better experience for the next generation.

    It works on all levels. Evolutionarily/biologically. Religiously. Morally.

  4. SlammingMomma Avatar

    I’m hoping it’s for someone to stop by and say, hey…let’s do lunch. Hasn’t happened. 🤷🏼‍♀️

  5. DEADFLY6 Avatar

    Assuming there is a purpose? Don’t say there has to be. We might just live, pay the bills, and then wait to die. I’m cool with no purpose.

  6. oldcreaker Avatar

    There is no purpose – we’re born, we die, and we decide what we will do in that little piece in between. If we have any purpose in life, it’s whatever purpose we choose to assign to ourselves.

  7. TedBurns-3 Avatar

    Just make your story what you want and enjoy the journey

  8. rshultis3 Avatar

    It’s those connections with people, the little things you enjoy, or even just trying to be a decent human while you’re here. It’s okay to feel small in the grand scheme of things, but your own experiences and how you live them is what feels real.

  9. Additional-Ad-7956 Avatar

    There is no purpose. You have to be selfish to a point, and enjoy it. It’s a gift that can turn into a curse if you let it.

  10. thenletskeepdancing Avatar

    To have the human experience. For me that has meant learning to untangle the hurt done to me and learning to be fully present and appreciative

  11. pura_vida_2 Avatar

    Enjoy life without asking for its purpose otherwise you will drive yourself nuts. The end will be the same for all of us.

  12. Desperate-Bar3115 Avatar

    You’re here to be a continuation of the process. For a time.

  13. Jonseroo Avatar

    I just want to have a nice time with my family, and have a comfortable life without hurting anyone. I don’t need any other purpose. Also, I know what I’m like. If there was any purpose assigned to me that I didn’t pick for myself I would just nope out of it and do something else.

  14. Decent-Dingo081721 Avatar

    Literally NO REASON! I have been stuck on this for a couple months now and the more I think about it, the more depressed I get.

    Unless you contribute something that will be forever memorable, you will not even be known to have been alive. After a generation or two, your family forgets you even existed. Nothing you did matters. Your job didn’t matter. Your money didn’t matter. Your house doesn’t matter. All this stress in the world is causing so much suffering for NOTHING! There’s no purpose to it! It won’t freaking matter. In the grand scheme of things we are tiny ants in the universe.
    Just imagine looking at an ant colony and imagining that they are the people and that what we are living through, is happening to them. It doesn’t matter does it?
    It affects nobody in the long run.

  15. dayankuo234 Avatar

    if you’re open to it, there is a series and a book called Imagine Heaven. (I’d like to image life after this one, where it’s like this earth, but everything is good and perfect. art and creativity, reuniting with love ones (and pets) that have gone, and more.)

  16. rejenki Avatar

    Getting 1 million upvotes is the purpose of life

  17. dgmilo8085 Avatar

    My purpose is to make my wife happy and to provide for my kids. Secondary to that is to try to make life better for others and to make myself happy.

  18. HandfulsOfTrouble Avatar

    Why does there need to be a point or purpose? Why can’t we just be?

  19. GalaideCrew2000 Avatar

    the purpose of life is to live in a way that keeps life going

  20. Deedeelite Avatar

    My purpose was to raise awesome, considerate kids and leave a legacy of kindness. My work here is almost done.

  21. Regular_Cat9536 Avatar

    My purpose is to love, contribute to society and try leave the world a slightly better place than it was when I entered it.

  22. Tall_Confidence2992 Avatar

    Depends on which aspect of life you are looking at, i guess. Biologically, it’s propably creating offspring and making sure it’s able to survive until adulthood, then the cycle repeats. As for religion, being a good christian/ muslim/ whatever so you are allowed to enter heaven (I am not religious, so please correct me if I’m wrong).

    Then we can look at philosophy. According to nihilism and/ or absurdism, there is no inherent meaning in life. Which means you can either create your own meaning based upon your own values and wishes, or you lose yourself in an endless search for a purpose that doesn’t exist. It’s equally as disturbing as it is freeing, if you ask me.

    At the end of the day, nothing really matters in my opinion. Make experiences (good or bad), try to learn from them, have fun, try to be a good person, see the world (or explore your part of it), read, educate yourself, enjoy art, spend time with people you like. Or don’t. It’s up to you 🙂

  23. PuzzleheadedOil1560 Avatar

    I’ve spent my life helping others.

  24. RUfuqingkiddingme Avatar

    I have come to think that there really isn’t a lot of “meaning” so you might as well try to be happy while you’re sucking air.

  25. mmaine9339 Avatar

    I’m 52 years old, and over the years, I’ve come to believe that the purpose of life is to be useful and to help others. It might sound simple or old-fashioned, but in my experience, it leads to the most meaningful and lasting rewards.

    There’s an important difference between happiness and fulfillment. Happiness can be fleeting, but fulfillment comes from the choices you make—professionally and personally—that lead to meaningful relationships and experiences. Over time, those choices add up to something deeper.

    Life isn’t always fair. It’ll throw unexpected challenges your way. But those moments—however difficult—are where the most growth happens.

    I’ve traveled to more than 50 countries and chose to prioritize experiences over chasing titles or climbing ladders. Now, in my peak earning years, I find myself with more resources than I ever imagined—and even more appreciation for the path that led here.

  26. redss420 Avatar

    To give love in everything you do, is the meaning of life

  27. abraham-xe Avatar

    Dont want to start a debate…according to religion the purpose of this life is it is a test…you have to lead a good life…as a good human being…and believe in God and believe in the afterlife.

    this life is a real time rpg, or the matrix where we start from different economic, social whatever etc background…but the purpose is the same..life is a journey starting from the mothers womb…the life on earth…the life in the grave…and the ultimate life in the after life….

    Dont want to upset anyone..but this is one explanation of the purpose in life thats been told…

    For me life is like a test ….everyday.

    dont know about others.

  28. listeningobserver__ Avatar

    to live and die

    there’s no purpose otherwise

    everyone wants to believe that they matter but everything is subjective or arbitrary

    nothing matters unless you choose to give it meaning and even then very few will matter after they’re gone

    everything is irrelevant and temporary until we’re dead

  29. mendobather Avatar

    To eat good BBQ.

  30. wolzardred Avatar

    I think it’s kind of different for everyone. Like, sure, some people chase big goals, build empires, cure stuf but for a lot of us, it’s more about the little moments. Waking up to a sunny morning. Laughing so hard your stomach hurts. Finding people you click with. Feeling proud after doing something tough. Eating that one meal that hits the soul just right. I feel like we’re not here to figure it all out in some deep cosmic way. We’re here to live. Grow. Mess up. Learn. Love. Maybe help a few people along the way.