Summary

The author of the article shares their perspective on life, advocating for an optimistic nihilistic viewpoint that nothing truly matters in the grand scheme of things, yet one can still find meaning and purpose in their own existence.

Abstract

The article begins with a quote from "Fight Club," emphasizing the liberating feeling of losing all hope. The author explains that they have reached this conclusion through self-reflection and that this perspective is not rooted in depression or crisis, but rather in the understanding that our existence is insignificant in the vastness of the universe. They argue that societal expectations often dictate how we live our lives, but ultimately, no one will remember us once we cease to exist. Despite this, the author believes that life is a blessing and encourages readers to consider how they would live if nothing truly mattered. The author concludes by sharing their own decision to quit their job and become their own boss, urging readers to reflect on their own lives and share their thoughts.

Opinions

The author believes in the philosophy of optimistic nihilism, which suggests that nothing truly matters in the grand scheme of things, but one can still find meaning in their own life.
The author argues that societal expectations often dictate how we live our lives, but ultimately, no one will remember us once we cease to exist.
The author believes that life is a blessing and encourages readers to consider how they would live if nothing truly mattered.
The author shares their own decision to quit their job and become their own boss as an example of taking risks and finding personal meaning in life.
The author urges readers to reflect on their own lives and share their thoughts on the topic.
The author emphasizes the liberating feeling of losing all hope and encourages readers to embrace this perspective.
The author suggests that humans are innately selfish beings who are too preoccupied with their own problems to think about others.

Nothing matters……but it’s ok

“Losing all hope was freedom”

You may recognise this quote from the Novel and Film of the same name, “Fight Club”.

This quote always stuck to me whenever I hit low points in my rollercoaster life as a reminder of what really matters, which is………nothing.

Don’t worry, I’m not depressed or going through some mid-life crisis or an ugly breakup. I have done a lot of self-reflection on what truly matters in life and the conclusion I came with is simply nothing.

This might seem like a nihilistic way of looking at life but “optimistic nihilism” would be a more suitable description of my philosophy towards our existence.

I have accepted that nothing matters in the grandness of the universe but that does not stop me from giving meaning to my insignificant life on this spinning rock.

The fact that nothing really matters is truly a liberating feeling if you think about it. Many of us are living life a certain way to meet the expectations set out by society.

We fear that living an unorthodox life may result in being ostracized from society which is understandable since yearning to be a part of a community is baked into human evolution.

We are expected to accomplish certain milestones by a certain age to be viewed as a good citizen and a valuable member of society. But do you really believe that this is what 4 billion years of evolution equates to?

At the end of the day, no one is going to remember you once you cease to exist. Your children, if you decide to have any will think about you on special days such as your birthday and the day of your passing.

But as each generation passes, less and less people will remember who you were and that’s the reality of our existence.

Even if you do manage to change the world, you are still not going to be remembered like you would fantasize as a child.

Humans are innately selfish beings so our minds are too preoccupied with our own problems and you’d be surprised by how little others actually think about you.

My intention is not to make anyone feel sad or depressed since I genuinely believe that this is the best possible time to be alive as a human and getting the chance to live is a blessing that not many people realise.

We are the product of billions of years of uninterrupted evolution and the odds of being born is so, so, extremely unlikely, that we are all living miracles.

Knowing all this, are you happy with the way you are living life?

For the longest time, I was dissatisfied with the way my life was going and had a tendency to complain about how unfair life was towards me without being grateful for what I already had.

The reality is that I have the power to do whatever I want with the time I have on this planet and so do you. At the beginning of this year, I made the bold move of quitting my 9–6 job to become my own boss.

This was a huge risk to take as I would no longer be getting a stable income every month but I realised that I had taken enough blue pills and it was time for a change.

I made the decision to be bold with my life and take a huge risk with my career knowing that nothing matters in the end. I feel great about the decision I have made and excited for what the future holds.

My message to you is simple:

“What would you change about your life if nothing mattered in the end?”

Comment below your thoughts, I’m interested to know all of your perspectives!