So I am an athiest. Now what?

[Markos]

When I was in Christianity, I used god as the meaning of life. Heaven was the main goal. Now that I am an atheist, I am having trouble finding my purpose in life. So the question is now what? I need to find the point to being alive. That may sound somewhat depressive or suicidal of me, but I swear its not. I find wonder in this amazing world, I just want to know where I fit in. I want to do something worth my time. I don't want to waste my life. I need a purpose.

Did anyone here feel a loss of purpose when you became an atheist? How did you find your purpose? Do you have any suggestions on some philosophy to read? Any advise on finding my purpose? Do you have any stories you would like to share?

You will find yourself on a road well-travelled. What you're feeling is certainly very common, not just for those who become atheists but also as an (entirely authentic) experience even for believers in God. Not only a sense of meaninglessness, but shear absurdity, nihilism, hopelessness, dread and despair. These are all themes of a particular movement in the 20th Century (with roots in the 19th Century) called existentialism (you've probably come across it before, so forgive me if I'm teaching granny to suck eggs). A good place to start investigating would be a book (or rather a lecture) by Jean-Paul Sartre called Existentialism is a Humanism, which is perhaps the simplest exposition of his philosophy for us common folk. Then take a look at Albert Camus' famous novel The Stranger. For a different take from Christian perspectives, you might try Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling or Doestoevsky's masterpiece, The Brothers Karamazov (one of whose characters is the most convincing atheist I have ever encountered).