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No Stupid Questions @lemmy.world Required @lemmy.world

Anyone else feel like ~99% of their life was kind of wasted?

In the last year or so I started to see so many people of my age that have done truly incredible things and still doing more.
For the vast majority of my life my only goals were gettimg academic satisfaction and doing unproductive stuff in the free time to get temporary pleasure. No end goal whatsoever.
I kind of don't know what I've been doing in the last 17 years while someone gets a patent on solar systems, other invents a new recyclable plastic, and another found a successful startup. I mean, they all find what they're supposed to be doing with their lives and excel in them.
I feel overwhelmed for trying to pace up with these kind of people. Yet I don't like the way the things are and I can't do anything but envy those people.
Anyone with experience in this regard? How did you deal with this? Did you eventually "pace up" with these people or was it too late or an unattainable goal?
Edit: Whoops, I didn't expect so many replies! Thanks, I'll look into them all

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  • I guess to add to what a lot of people have said already but many people would argue that there is no inherent meaning to life as a whole and therefore you need to find your own. For some this may be wanting fame or glory, for others it's putting in a good day's work. There is no correct answer. You only get one shot at this life so ultimately do what makes you happy.

    If you spend your life comparing yourself to others it is going to make you miserable, especially if you compare yourself to the history books, only a percentage of a percentage of a percentage of people ever make it in them, what happened to all those people who were theorising about gravity when the apple fell on the head of mathematician in Woolsthorpe?

    The same goes for fame too, look at all the people who start making content with the only goal of "making it big." How far do they realistically get before they give up? Audiences also aren't silly, they can tell when someone is phoning it in, people want to see authentic stuff.

    For me then, well, I'd be a liar if I said that I have never chased something, because I'm chasing something right now, it's just that it's a personal goal and I know achieving it will bring me personal happiness. If it makes other people happy too that's a bonus, it's not going to change the world, it's not going to set the world on fire, but it's been fun.

    But I will not deny that in the past I too have had to deal with nihilism, and that was a very difficult period of my life. One that at the time I just couldn't talk to people about because how do you word that?

    Besides, you don't know how many people out there are looking at you right now and going, "damn, wish I was OP, having the maturity to question their place in the universe at only xx years old!"

    Edit: Grammar

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