Existential Dread and How to Be Happier

[@cortisol_induced_coma]

I’m still in school. I have those scary deadlines and uncertainties that I could say excite me, but I still feel that dread. I think that for me, it’s less about it staying the same and more about wondering whether it will all be worth it. Even if I do experience happiness in the future, I wonder, will it be worth the suffering I went through to get there? Will it stay for long enough for me to be satisfied with it? It’s that uncertainty that kills me.

[@isabelladeck817]

you described my thoughts perfectly

[@mintymell0287]

The kind of existentialism I’ve been struggling with is thinking about my future so much and I don’t want this 9 to 5 cubical job and I want to be a musician but even with that I don’t want to be this industry signed off to a controlling record label and even with that it’s like nothing really brings me joy nothing makes me genuinely happy and I just feel like theirs no point to life I have nothing bringing me joy and I have a few problems and I feel like it would be so much easier with just not having to live not having to exist and have problems yet I choose to be alive I could very well end everything yet I don’t and I feel like it’s because I don’t want to hurt anyone and everything just feels mediocre and then when I think about my future job I think about how the stuff I would enjoy would screw me over financially and it just makes me want to live in this cabin in the woods that my head made up to escape the existentialism and I’m not depressed right now but I’m just waiting for things to get better but they aren’t and it’s not like it’s bad either I just want it to be better because it’s not good but it’s not bad you get me but yeah anyways

[@SmoothSmoothie127]

I feel like on a subconscious level I'm obsessed with infinite sustainability? It's so weird. It's so hard to explain but I'm constantly thinking about things and if they'll hold up or not.

[@steveblake446]

We are all disposable. I completely (think) I get what you're saying. Every human who's walked the earth has an obsession with infinite sustainability. I find that as soon as I stop obsessing about that, the happier I am if that makes sense.

[@Autonova]

Same. I’ve recently become obsessed with the end of the universe and of humanity will be able to live forever, even though that’s like trillions of years into the future. It’s ridiculous why I’m worrying about it.

[@roizeldiez3500]

I feel you, infinity bogs my mind and makes me anxious and sad

[@goldmansachel1894]

I cannot face the reality that we are going to die. I don’t get it. And I literally have nobody in my life. It’s a strange existence to be this alone observing the world connecting with each other. How strange to know that every person you see is going to be a rotting corpse in the ground. It’s unbelievable to me. 😢

[@roizeldiez3500]

Hey, im here and i saw your comment, and i saw your existense. You are real and loved!

[@oyshepaul6986]

This is why I think having kids is selfish

[@grimmo3936]

Is it weird that I fear death so much I almost want it

[@equivocalpessimist]

What we want is to control it.

[@carnasondrakith2553]

I feel the same way almost, I really don't want to die but I also want to get it over with so I know what happens exactly ..... but the not wanting to die out weighs that.

[@pinayexistentialist3128]

I was thinking the same

[@shin-ishikiri-no]

Well, keep eating dead animals.

[@shin-ishikiri-no]

@@carnasondrakith2553 That's nice, Grunt. Keep eating your inferior forms of sustenance. I expect no less from an uneducated pleb.

[@MonirulIslam-fc5lv]

Im going through this..the frustration, anger and headache never goes away..i cn see smthng in d future tho..me bcming someone u knw..the feeling that i am fading away, disppearing ,is still there

[@carnasondrakith2553]

For me my existential dread is the thought that in the end once all the humans die off and all our effects were off we won't matter what we did won't matter the world will still revolve, and at some point it will stop, and ..... at some point the universe will cease ........... I'm sorry for bumming you out but I suppose I should just focus on the now and not the than.

[@CRydon200]

Yeah same

[@BeniBoyzGuitarSlamz]

From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok (a father to his son): “Human beings do not live forever, Reuven. We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye, if we measure our lives against eternity. So it may be asked what value is there to a human life. There is so much pain in the world. What does it mean to have to suffer so much if our lives are nothing more than the blink of an eye? I learned a long time ago, Reuven, that a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something. A span of life is nothing. But the man who lives that span, he is something. He can fill that tiny span with meaning, so its quality is immeasurable though its quantity may be insignificant. Do you understand what I am saying? A man must fill his life with meaning, meaning is not automatically given to life. It is hard work to fill one's life with meaning. That I do not think you understand yet. A life filled with meaning is worthy of rest. I want to be worthy of rest when I am no longer here.”

[@mikechrist9699]

how are you? Im struggling with it right now:(

[@carnasondrakith2553]

@@mikechrist9699 I'm better now on this account but now I need therapy for depression which is probably worse

[@mikechrist9699]

@@carnasondrakith2553 sorry to hear that. Keep fighting bro, the world is full of wonderful things:)

[@arcitekk]

I can't stop thinking about what happens after we die when I sleep. When I die, will I be conscious after my body goes? Or will I just disappear? If I am conscious, What might happen? I don't know if I can see my future grandchildren get a marriage or see the Earth go into a different era. After trillions of years, the universe will die out. There might not be anything else. You think there's always a tomorrow when every tomorrow you get closer to the end. The end would be the end. Everything comes to an end. The universe might go and never come back. We might never exist ever again. But for now, we should just enjoy life as it is and focus on the bright side.

[@isabelladeck817]

well, the way i think of it is that we are all made of energy. everything is made out of energy, and energy can neither be created or destroyed. that means our energy was already here to begin with, and that it will never leave. i think as humans we are just incapable of understanding or comprehending that some things don’t need a beginning or an end, i mean, we only use 3% of our brain, and the one thing that every person in the world has in common with each other is that we are born and will eventually die. there is so many layers of our consciousness that we currently at this very moment have within us, but that we will almost never be able to access. its kind of crazy honestly, the only thing stopping ourselves is our own brain. i see it as when we die it will just be like we were never born in the first place. you cant remember life before being born, so why or how should it be possible we remember life after death?

[@trinityg8511]

I think you've managed to sum up my biggest fear. The thought that one day everything will go black & there's nothing I do will prevent it.

[@merijn3928]

Interesting vid! Whenever I have some existential dread, I force myself to be very aware of the fact that I’m a very fortunate person to be able to have this dread. After all, (at least for me) it only occurs when everything else seems happy and steady in my life. I don’t think that people in very poor countries who have to work all day every day just to feed themselves have time or energy to face existential dread. It comes from a place of privilege. Interesting perspective on changing some things from time to time and planning scary things! I will try to do that more in the future.

[@rodrigoescmejia]

I sometimes think this what the origin of my existential crisis, being aware of how lucky I am and how much I love what I have achieved and the place where I am in life - so so much that I am afraid knowing that I'm gonna lose it

[@zoe.h.nelson04]

If you look into developmental psych, especially Erikson, age does actually play at least somewhat of a role in the kinds of identity crises we face

[@nailabencobi884]

i had a similar crisis ...i almost failed my 2 nd year of med school ....i am better know

[@emptyroomd9567]

I think at some point my crisis just went away and I accepted it

[@em_overlover]

this made me feel better 😌

[@hibak8196]

The thumbnail is everything lol That was amazing

[@quietginja9946]

Unless the unknown is in itself what you fear. 🥺 Yay.

[@bigdaddynate1833]

im just scared that it all leads to nothing

[@jordanadams7168]

This one.

[@NazarVovk]

Love ur hat, Tom, where did u get it?

[@damondominique]

RIGHT THERE W YALL 😶

[@jacquelinedesmarais4108]

i like to think about what a privilege it is to rot together

[@mushroompot8931]

I feel Sometimes I fear life more then death lmao