What's the point in doing anything in life?

[jray23]

There is already some very good advice here. I'll add that you actually have a greater chance of developing serious illness and a young death with an attitude of life being pointless.

I would recommend that you look up Viktor Frankl and his book, "Man's Search for Meaning". It's next on my reading list as well and from everything I have seen is a very powerful book. Frankl had much more taken away from him (Holocaust survivor) than even an illness could take from us. His premise in the book is that by having meaning to life, you actually increase your chances of survival.

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[Ronan23]

There is already some very good advice here. I'll add that you actually have a greater chance of developing serious illness and a young death with an attitude of life being pointless.

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And thus the vicious cycle continues. Not only do I feel bad for having these thoughts, but they could actively damage my health, yet I can't stop thinking them.

[ErinKC]

I would recommend that you look up Viktor Frankl and his book, "Man's Search for Meaning". It's next on my reading list as well and from everything I have seen is a very powerful book. Frankl had much more taken away from him (Holocaust survivor) than even an illness could take from us. His premise in the book is that by having meaning to life, you actually increase your chances of survival.

Man's Search for Meaning is phenomenal.

[Pamplemousse]

Why do anything at all, why aspire to anything, if it can all be taken away in such a short space of time by a devastating illness like pancreatic cancer or glioblastoma (brain cancer)?

It is one of those existentialist dilemmas I often ponder myself - having lost my wife suddenly some eight years ago and seen all our hopes and aspirations snatched away in a few days by sepsis.

Existence does sometimes seem terribly futile.

[SetYourMindFree]

Why do anything at all, why aspire to anything, if it can all be taken away in such a short space of time by a devastating illness like pancreatic cancer or glioblastoma (brain cancer)?

Sudden death has been a fear of mine in the past, but much scarier are illnesses like these that are practically death sentences and only give you months to live. They can strike at any time too; I'm only 27 but I've heard of cases of pancreatic cancer and brain tumors in my age group. Symptoms only show at advanced stages too.

What is the point in striving towards something, in investing anything emotionally into a person or vocation in life, if you can be then diagnosed with an illness that is guaranteed to take those things away from you? At least with sudden death you don't know you are going to lose everything.

I've never understood the irrrational fear of death. We're all going to die. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF. US.

So maybe I'll turn the question around on you: Knowing death is inevitable, why fill the void between with worry over death?