Every day I ask God what he wants me to do with my life...

Blackrook

Diamond Member
Jun 20, 2014
21,211
10,862
1,255
...I never get an answer.

Does he want me to work at a job I don't really like, writing legal briefs for clients I don't care about, to earn money so I can eat and pay my bills?

I write stories which sometimes I finish, but the chances of getting published are practically nil, and people don't seem to like my stories that much anyway.

I'm divorced, and I still sleep on the right side of the bed, keeping the left side open for a woman who will never come back.

My three children are grown and moved out. I rarely see my first daughter, see the second daughter when she wants money, and my son I see when we watch cartoons together or play Dungeons and Dragons.

I'm fifty-five years old and I might live another thirty years, but it seems more of a curse than a blessing to live so long with nothing to do in my life but get older.

My children are unmarried, it looks like they may never get married, and I think there's a good chance I won't have grandchildren.

I still believe in God, but it seems that my existence is pointless, and my religion offers me nothing in the way of comfort.

I've joined a few dating websites, like Match and Elite, but none of the women I see there are even slightly appealing to me. They all say they like walking on the beach under the moonlight, want to travel to extravagant locations, and put up photos of their dogs and cats. I realize that the brainless cheerfulness that is charming in a young woman is pathetic when a woman grows old.

I never thought I'd be alone at this stage in my life, but I am. My ex-wife hovers in my life, cleaning my home, coming over to watch TV with me once or twice a week, but then goes home to another man's house. I have no idea what she wants from me, am I her emergency escape hatch in case the other man kicks her out? I don't know and since we never communicate, there's no way to find out.

As a young man I had big dreams, but somehow none of them worked out. I live in a three-bedroom house in a neighborhood that's a bit run-down, I have a job I don't like, I own a moderately-priced car that's decaying with age, and I have a bunch of bills to pay and debts to pay off.

I'm at the end of my rope, but the rope doesn't end, I may exist on this planet for another thirty years. Some people will say I should count my blessings, be grateful to God for what I have, but I don't and I'm not.

I put this in Religion section because my problem is spiritual. I feel empty inside and I don't think it's just the bipolarism talking, I think an honest appraisal of my situation is that there is no point in my continued existence on this planet. However, please don't worry about me or think you have to talk me out of suicide. I could never do that to my family.

Which leads me back to my original point, what does God want me to do with my life? I ask myself that question every morning when I take a shower. Why? If I get an answer to that question, will my life become meaningful again? Does God want me to abandon my attorney job and do something else? Would I be happy if I did something else?

I think of all the typical tasks God asks people who serve him do and I wonder. I can't be a priest because I'm divorced and in the Church's eyes still married to my ex-wife. Should I be a teacher? I couldn't teach in a public school but a private school or a Catholic school might hire me. Should I get a job in writing, which is my real love? Should I go to a foreign country and get a job there?

I think that God wants me to get out of my rut. With my marriage ended and my children grown, my old life is over. But I am still in my old house, surrounded by things that remind me of my old life. My ex-wife still comes over from time to time to decorate my house to her liking. It's like she wants to cling to the life we had, even though she left me for another man. I still love her, so I don't have the courage to tell her to really leave me. But I think her continued presence in my life is holding me back. And, if she really did leave for good, my loneliness would increase.

I'm not looking for pity, but I could use some advice. Those of you who take this opportunity to mock me because I've opened up like this, I will put on Ignore.
 
at this point there is a fine line between mocking you and trying to help you....first i do not share your religion ...but you have to ask...if my religion failing me or am i failing my religion...why dont you get out and do some volunteer work...at a food bank...something like that...meeting people is esp hard right now....but you may find if you just take a few steps to volunteer at something...a local humane etc...do you have a pet? pets are a great companion and do help one with their depression or mental issues....hell i have 6...and another thing its okay to be lonely ..its okay to be alone...there is a difference...

why are you letting your ex mess with you? this is kinda a twilight zone you dont deserve...why is she coming over to your place that yall use to share and then going home to her new man? grown ass kids are a pain...

get a quiet hobby for me....bird watching....i feed birds etc..its quiet and i enjoy it...

why dont you move outta that house..its a sellers market right now...a pro when you are selling....a con when you are buying a new place...its just memories holding you back...

change jobs....if you dont need the income....just change to a job you may enjoy...regardless of how it pays or how socially acceptable it is....run away...join the circus.....like you said you got 3 more decades ...make the most of them...find some bimbo spend your money on her....you might be surprised how much you would enjoy someone different...and i know there are women at church...but you have to move on from the ex....that is holding you back emotionally and all...you cant see yourself doing much cause you wont move on...

and again the more time you spend on the net...the more depressed it will make you ...i never imagined i would spend my years sitting on the back porch watching birds trying to stay alive but here we are....
 
I never thought I'd be alone at this stage in my life, but I am. My ex-wife hovers in my life, cleaning my home, coming over to watch TV with me once or twice a week, but then goes home to another man's house. I have no idea what she wants from me, am I her emergency escape hatch in case the other man kicks her out? I don't know and since we never communicate, there's no way to find out.

Your ex wife cleans your home and comes over to watch TV once or twice a week? Really? I guess you don't know what an ex really is.
 
at this point there is a fine line between mocking you and trying to help you....first i do not share your religion ...but you have to ask...if my religion failing me or am i failing my religion...why dont you get out and do some volunteer work...at a food bank...something like that...meeting people is esp hard right now....but you may find if you just take a few steps to volunteer at something...a local humane etc...do you have a pet? pets are a great companion and do help one with their depression or mental issues....hell i have 6...and another thing its okay to be lonely ..its okay to be alone...there is a difference...

why are you letting your ex mess with you? this is kinda a twilight zone you dont deserve...why is she coming over to your place that yall use to share and then going home to her new man? grown ass kids are a pain...

get a quiet hobby for me....bird watching....i feed birds etc..its quiet and i enjoy it...

why dont you move outta that house..its a sellers market right now...a pro when you are selling....a con when you are buying a new place...its just memories holding you back...

change jobs....if you dont need the income....just change to a job you may enjoy...regardless of how it pays or how socially acceptable it is....run away...join the circus.....like you said you got 3 more decades ...make the most of them...find some bimbo spend your money on her....you might be surprised how much you would enjoy someone different...and i know there are women at church...but you have to move on from the ex....that is holding you back emotionally and all...you cant see yourself doing much cause you wont move on...

and again the more time you spend on the net...the more depressed it will make you ...i never imagined i would spend my years sitting on the back porch watching birds trying to stay alive but here we are....
Well mate I was not much older than you 58 when after a short illness I was told I had terminal cancer and even with treatment I had no more than 6 months to live.
Shit I thought, what can I do in 6 months apart from arrange my funeral. I had never been ill in my life and had no medical history. I hadn't finished building my fortune and what about all the other things I intended to do? This sort of thing only happens to other people its not supposed to happen to me! I'd always been one determined to turn any negative into a positive but this was a very tall order.
Now 6 years later and after one hundred and eleven treatments of chemo therapy I can see the
silly naivety of my seemingly important objectives and values of my former life.
Strangely I can see that far from being the end it was in any ways the making of me.
I am still terminally ill and funnily enough I had my last chemo on Feb 3rd my consultant insisting that I could go no longer than 4 weeks without treatment, but because of Corona, I havn't even had a scan in 6 months, the cancer could be raging all over my body. Ask me if I'm bothered? Na not really as the song say's "...any fool can see, nothing really matters....any way the wind blows!"

It has given me all the time I never had before. I can't really physically travel, but my mind, my mind can and has traveled the universe searching for all the answers I'd always fleetingly asked but never had the time to find out. If I ever feel a bit down, - I don't really get depressed cos I think about something else and set of on another great adventure. And after I draw my last breath I won't know anymore about it. There is no 'death' cos your only ever aware of being alive!
Time lines aren't important, just fill it with everything you possibly can! Forget about your niggly little problems - they are not problems you are just allowing your mind to create them. They will soon disappear, and if your a man of god, don't sit wondering what he wants you to do, go and explore his universe with your mind. It is said that god helps those who help themselves and whoever your god is I'm sure he'd approve.
Write your books, but don't handicap your mind before you even start by wondering if anybody will want to read them - no, they wont unless you set your creativity free and write about exactly what you want to, from your heart and trust your mind to do the rest.

Hope I've helped - be reborn!
Good luck!
 
...I never get an answer.
Sometimes it helps to look at the problem from the opposite angle. For example, instead of looking for what God wants you to do with your life, look at it from the perspective of What can I do so God can help me do it? If God is in the midst of a nothing life, give Him a something life. Start small, which means stay with your job, at least for now. Instead:

1. Take a class. You mentioned you like to write, take a creative writing class, online if you must. Or take a class in something you may have always wanted to try, but never got around to it--photography, painting, woodworking...
2. Daily exercise. Just walk if nothing else. Take note of what is going on around you.
3. Figure out something your daughters need or like to do. One time my daughters grabbed me and we went axe throwing. (Yep, there really is such an activity, and it was fun.) Golf, miniature golf, bowling, anything, really. Also, expand into an additional thing you and your son can do.
4. Volunteer. If you enjoy animals, maybe help an animal shelter, group, whatever.
5. If your wife comes over to clean, pitch in! Work with her. Or maybe find a room the two of you can redecorate or remodel together. Take her out, or for all her help, cook or bring in a delightful meal for you both to share.
6. Figure out something you can do for all the people in your life. What can you do for your ex, your daughters, your son, your colleagues at work without expecting anything in return. In fact, don't let anyone know you are doing something for them. Small kindnesses if nothing else.
7. Trace your family genealogy.
8. Etc. (For example, tell your ex, "I want to do something, but I don't know where to start." She knows you well, and you may appreciate her insights.

Think of God saying, "You can figure out things to do, it is your choice. My job is to be with you whether you do nothing or do a lot."

Good luck! You are on an adventure of discovery.
 
Move to somewhere with a beach. Tell the hangers on in your life good luck and reinvent yourself as someone a good woman would want. You're still living in the wreckage of your failed life. Get some distance and time to work on you and quit brooding. If you can shed your inner rage and bitterness before you know it you will look over and She will be there.
 
...I never get an answer.

Does he want me to work at a job I don't really like, writing legal briefs for clients I don't care about, to earn money so I can eat and pay my bills?

I write stories which sometimes I finish, but the chances of getting published are practically nil, and people don't seem to like my stories that much anyway.

I'm divorced, and I still sleep on the right side of the bed, keeping the left side open for a woman who will never come back.

My three children are grown and moved out. I rarely see my first daughter, see the second daughter when she wants money, and my son I see when we watch cartoons together or play Dungeons and Dragons.

I'm fifty-five years old and I might live another thirty years, but it seems more of a curse than a blessing to live so long with nothing to do in my life but get older.

My children are unmarried, it looks like they may never get married, and I think there's a good chance I won't have grandchildren.

I still believe in God, but it seems that my existence is pointless, and my religion offers me nothing in the way of comfort.

I've joined a few dating websites, like Match and Elite, but none of the women I see there are even slightly appealing to me. They all say they like walking on the beach under the moonlight, want to travel to extravagant locations, and put up photos of their dogs and cats. I realize that the brainless cheerfulness that is charming in a young woman is pathetic when a woman grows old.

I never thought I'd be alone at this stage in my life, but I am. My ex-wife hovers in my life, cleaning my home, coming over to watch TV with me once or twice a week, but then goes home to another man's house. I have no idea what she wants from me, am I her emergency escape hatch in case the other man kicks her out? I don't know and since we never communicate, there's no way to find out.

As a young man I had big dreams, but somehow none of them worked out. I live in a three-bedroom house in a neighborhood that's a bit run-down, I have a job I don't like, I own a moderately-priced car that's decaying with age, and I have a bunch of bills to pay and debts to pay off.

I'm at the end of my rope, but the rope doesn't end, I may exist on this planet for another thirty years. Some people will say I should count my blessings, be grateful to God for what I have, but I don't and I'm not.

I put this in Religion section because my problem is spiritual. I feel empty inside and I don't think it's just the bipolarism talking, I think an honest appraisal of my situation is that there is no point in my continued existence on this planet. However, please don't worry about me or think you have to talk me out of suicide. I could never do that to my family.

Which leads me back to my original point, what does God want me to do with my life? I ask myself that question every morning when I take a shower. Why? If I get an answer to that question, will my life become meaningful again? Does God want me to abandon my attorney job and do something else? Would I be happy if I did something else?

I think of all the typical tasks God asks people who serve him do and I wonder. I can't be a priest because I'm divorced and in the Church's eyes still married to my ex-wife. Should I be a teacher? I couldn't teach in a public school but a private school or a Catholic school might hire me. Should I get a job in writing, which is my real love? Should I go to a foreign country and get a job there?

I think that God wants me to get out of my rut. With my marriage ended and my children grown, my old life is over. But I am still in my old house, surrounded by things that remind me of my old life. My ex-wife still comes over from time to time to decorate my house to her liking. It's like she wants to cling to the life we had, even though she left me for another man. I still love her, so I don't have the courage to tell her to really leave me. But I think her continued presence in my life is holding me back. And, if she really did leave for good, my loneliness would increase.

I'm not looking for pity, but I could use some advice. Those of you who take this opportunity to mock me because I've opened up like this, I will put on Ignore.
Maybe god gave you a pathetic life for a reason? :dunno:
 
Become a sugar daddy mentor the young ladies, be a guide and they take care of you. Just saying
 
1. there is no god
2, he wants you to screw your buddy before he screws you--like the other animals do in the world
 
at this point there is a fine line between mocking you and trying to help you....first i do not share your religion ...but you have to ask...if my religion failing me or am i failing my religion...why dont you get out and do some volunteer work...at a food bank...something like that...meeting people is esp hard right now....but you may find if you just take a few steps to volunteer at something...a local humane etc...do you have a pet? pets are a great companion and do help one with their depression or mental issues....hell i have 6...and another thing its okay to be lonely ..its okay to be alone...there is a difference...

why are you letting your ex mess with you? this is kinda a twilight zone you dont deserve...why is she coming over to your place that yall use to share and then going home to her new man? grown ass kids are a pain...

get a quiet hobby for me....bird watching....i feed birds etc..its quiet and i enjoy it...

why dont you move outta that house..its a sellers market right now...a pro when you are selling....a con when you are buying a new place...its just memories holding you back...

change jobs....if you dont need the income....just change to a job you may enjoy...regardless of how it pays or how socially acceptable it is....run away...join the circus.....like you said you got 3 more decades ...make the most of them...find some bimbo spend your money on her....you might be surprised how much you would enjoy someone different...and i know there are women at church...but you have to move on from the ex....that is holding you back emotionally and all...you cant see yourself doing much cause you wont move on...

and again the more time you spend on the net...the more depressed it will make you ...i never imagined i would spend my years sitting on the back porch watching birds trying to stay alive but here we are....

excellant post & i agree - bird watching is very rewarding.
 
...I never get an answer.

Does he want me to work at a job I don't really like, writing legal briefs for clients I don't care about, to earn money so I can eat and pay my bills?

I write stories which sometimes I finish, but the chances of getting published are practically nil, and people don't seem to like my stories that much anyway.

I'm divorced, and I still sleep on the right side of the bed, keeping the left side open for a woman who will never come back.

My three children are grown and moved out. I rarely see my first daughter, see the second daughter when she wants money, and my son I see when we watch cartoons together or play Dungeons and Dragons.

I'm fifty-five years old and I might live another thirty years, but it seems more of a curse than a blessing to live so long with nothing to do in my life but get older.

My children are unmarried, it looks like they may never get married, and I think there's a good chance I won't have grandchildren.

I still believe in God, but it seems that my existence is pointless, and my religion offers me nothing in the way of comfort.

I've joined a few dating websites, like Match and Elite, but none of the women I see there are even slightly appealing to me. They all say they like walking on the beach under the moonlight, want to travel to extravagant locations, and put up photos of their dogs and cats. I realize that the brainless cheerfulness that is charming in a young woman is pathetic when a woman grows old.

I never thought I'd be alone at this stage in my life, but I am. My ex-wife hovers in my life, cleaning my home, coming over to watch TV with me once or twice a week, but then goes home to another man's house. I have no idea what she wants from me, am I her emergency escape hatch in case the other man kicks her out? I don't know and since we never communicate, there's no way to find out.

As a young man I had big dreams, but somehow none of them worked out. I live in a three-bedroom house in a neighborhood that's a bit run-down, I have a job I don't like, I own a moderately-priced car that's decaying with age, and I have a bunch of bills to pay and debts to pay off.

I'm at the end of my rope, but the rope doesn't end, I may exist on this planet for another thirty years. Some people will say I should count my blessings, be grateful to God for what I have, but I don't and I'm not.

I put this in Religion section because my problem is spiritual. I feel empty inside and I don't think it's just the bipolarism talking, I think an honest appraisal of my situation is that there is no point in my continued existence on this planet. However, please don't worry about me or think you have to talk me out of suicide. I could never do that to my family.

Which leads me back to my original point, what does God want me to do with my life? I ask myself that question every morning when I take a shower. Why? If I get an answer to that question, will my life become meaningful again? Does God want me to abandon my attorney job and do something else? Would I be happy if I did something else?

I think of all the typical tasks God asks people who serve him do and I wonder. I can't be a priest because I'm divorced and in the Church's eyes still married to my ex-wife. Should I be a teacher? I couldn't teach in a public school but a private school or a Catholic school might hire me. Should I get a job in writing, which is my real love? Should I go to a foreign country and get a job there?

I think that God wants me to get out of my rut. With my marriage ended and my children grown, my old life is over. But I am still in my old house, surrounded by things that remind me of my old life. My ex-wife still comes over from time to time to decorate my house to her liking. It's like she wants to cling to the life we had, even though she left me for another man. I still love her, so I don't have the courage to tell her to really leave me. But I think her continued presence in my life is holding me back. And, if she really did leave for good, my loneliness would increase.

I'm not looking for pity, but I could use some advice. Those of you who take this opportunity to mock me because I've opened up like this, I will put on Ignore.
You either get busy living or you get busy dying...I've been through three wives and none of my childhood dreams came true, my income stopped because of a debilitating disability but, life is a bitch and then you live.
 

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