Atheism and the midlife-crisis

[Kayenneh]

Hello and welcome to AF! ^_^

Since I'm 'only' 24, I unfortunately can't give you much advice on mid-life crisis

[Doubting Thomas]

Maybe I need a mid-life crisis. Or at least maybe I should tell the wife I'm having one so I can go out and buy a shiny red sports car.

[JesusHChrist]

I bought my first shiny red sports car when I was late-20s.

No mid-life crisis required.

Next up, in my ever-so-devious-ways, I've convinced the GF, that the next car SHE needs is a 420HP Mustang. Red is a likely color. Heheheheheheh.

Atheists. Are we not evil?

Now, about that three-way with the Thai twins....or if the GF is game, a four way.

[Holesun]

Welcome to AF. I'm also 42 but so far no midlife crisis. I'm sorry you're suffering from depression, but religion is not the way to go, IMO. Especially not Christianity because a lot of Christians believe that we are worthless and deserve to be destroyed or sent to eternal torture by God just because he made us. Other Christians seem to not understand how anyone can be unhappy when they've heard the "good news" that God loves them, etc. Not particularly helpful for depression.

I'll just second the idea of taking your meds with the addition to have lots of sex with your wife. Nobody is unhappy during an orgasm.

46 never married female who is also very depressed and cannot find a purpose. My 15 y/o daughter was kicked out of school in May after what I thought was a promising year and things where heading in a positive direction. I walked out on my job and have not been able to recover my confidence, concentration, or anything worth meaning. I unlike yourself have no friends or family in the area and with my depression being so bad I am alienating my family. I think they are very disappointed that I have not bounced back and returned to work. I wish I had some accomplishments to be proud of, but it would seem my daughter hates me and did not want to live with me the last 15 years and is now living with her father. She was the reason I worked so hard to try and do the best for her to succeed. I want to move and get away from all the reminders of failure but that is overwhelming.

I am looking into TMS, have you thought about that instead of the meds?

[Jiggerj]

father to two beautiful girls aged 7 and 5.

Hi Latheist. Listen, my friend. What you lack right now is focus. Forget everything except your job. And that job is raising your children and having FUN with them. That's all you need to focus on right now. If you're looking for a god all you have to do right now is look in the mirror. You are a god to those innocent children of yours. YOU created them. Teach them how to live in this world and forget about if there's a next life or not. Love them. Worship them.

You are HERE now. Your children are HERE now. Be in this moment with them.

[Creed of Heresy]

I am 42 years old. I have a fine arts diploma, a BFA, a BEd and am currently working on a diploma in Visual Communications. I have no job, but was recently a high school teacher for several years. I am a husband of 12 years and father to two beautiful girls aged 7 and 5. I am currently in roughly year two of severe depression and anxiety due to the recognition and acknowledgement of my failures as a human within the tiny expanse of my pathetic and insignificant existence as a spec of dust in the incomprehensible vastness of the universe(s). I have always fought (mostly subconsciously) against conformity and domesticity and against the wonderful security and simple pleasures that come with it, growing bored and self-destructive in the process. My shrink thinks I hate myself because I am never satisfied with the state I’m in, constantly in flux with my understanding of place and self, unrelenting in a battle against a meaningless existence, unable to comprehend what that means. I fear death because I don't believe in God and am terrified at the idea of nothingness. I envy those who have found God as I long for security in the choices I make, I long for faith in something. I always want more and when satiated, I destroy then move on past the rubble. I’m a cliché and I know/perpetuate it.

Man, you're in the same situation I was in, and to some extent still am in every so often. Depression has a very strong tendency to evoke sudden fears of death, especially the contemplation of it, which is something I can certainly attest to.

Best thing to do, is take solace in the fact that even when you do die, you will live on, in a way, in your daughters. And they will remember you. You are significant to them. In this world, the only thing that gives us significance is the company we hold, the friends we have, the things and people we love. It's them for whom and which you should live for...not some grand cosmic scheme and purpose in an immensely enormous universe. To wish for such is just hubris. We are small, but we are pieces to the puzzle, threads in the grand tapestry of life on this planet and, hopefully, someday soon, on other planets as well.

Death is scary...but it's experience, I imagine, is pretty...well, nothing. I imagine that in that moment just before death, that last second is an explosion of the memories and experiences we've had, all rushing into our conscious eye before it passes. And, in our perception, that moment lasts an eternity.

Don't fear death. Accept it. You cannot escape the reaper, but you can run, you can keep out of his reach. Eventually, however, you will tire. He will loom, and he will approach. And when he finally reaches for you, do not fight it, screaming and pleading and begging and wailing. Accept his embrace, and go with him with one last thought to everything you've experienced, and be happy you were able to feel it, before you return to whence you came. And know that you will be remembered by others, and in some way, through the genetic strands of life, some part of you will continue onwards.

[Neo-Scholastic]

As FNM said, if you are an atheist you must learn to embrace the void, as I did while under the sway of atheism. Even Christians deal with biological depression. I do. Depression and belief/disbelief are unrelated issues. Embracing Jesus will not change your physiology...just your destination ;-)

[Whateverist]

As FNM said, if you are an atheist you must learn to embrace the void, as I did while under the sway of atheism. Even Christians deal with biological depression. I do. Depression and belief/disbelief are unrelated issues. Embracing Jesus will not change your physiology...just your destination ;-)

You mean on Sundays?

[Minimalist]

I liken religion to training wheels on a bicycle.

I liken religion to stepping in a pile of shit. Clean your shoes and don't do it again.

[Airyaman]

OP, do you recall life before you were born? That is what it will be like when you die.

All humans in history are born and then eventually die. Some sooner than others. Its how things work. Not sure how fear is going to change any of that.