How Interested in Life are you?

[bsammy]

I'm wondering if this couldn't be some sort of atypical manifestation of ADD? If you have trouble concentrating or getting deeply involved in any one topic or activity, this might come across as feeling uninterested. I'm certainly no expert on the topic, so I'm just throwing it out there as a possibility. It's really hard for me to imagine not being interested in things, especially since you seem to want to be. It's a conundrum for sure.

i d have 1-2 things that mildly interest me but for the most part, these things almost feel more like 'time passers' than anything that i get immense amounts of pleasure and satisfaction from..i have heard adhd-i mentioned to me several times before..

a few more examples, my nephew had a basketball game today, i went but i was not very interested or into it, either the game or the social aspect of being around family and friends..i went anyways because thats what i SHOULD do..

heres the big kicker, as a guy ive never really been that interested in sex..only on the rare occasion do i feel interested..not nearly enough to warrant going through the hurdles to get it though, not even close..

so i just sit back and scratch my head as i feel so abnormal compared to most..men especially are strongly driven by sex, they work their asses in their profession or at the gym to attract women for sex..im almost indifferent to it..

 

[Odo]

the problem with this statement is if you dont have the initial interest to begin with, how does one even start up new activities?thats where i differ from most folks, they seem eager to learn and practice new hobbies..my interest isnt there to begin with except for a few different things im into..

even when my mood is lifted, my interest level doesnt increase..

It's not always about having an initial interest, it's about trying things because you have hope for yourself. You don't know everything about everything so you can't say for sure that there isn't anything out there that won't click. And even if nothing clicks and you absolutely hate everything you ever do, then at least you can say that you did it.

You don't have to be eager and full of life and excited about everything to try new things-- you can do new things awkwardly and angrily and still gain some degree of satisfaction in retrospect.

I used to be really closed off too and thought everything was stupid, but then I started traveling. Going to a new place can really wake you up about everything you take for granted... no matter what you do, if you escape your routines and keep going, then eventually you're going to come across something that is going to reach out, grab you, and shake the dust off your brain.

And when just being abroad wasn't enough, I decided I was going to start hiking up mountains... so I did that. The satisfaction came from achieving that goal. And then I decided I liked caves, so I started doing that. And then I decided I wanted to learn how to dive, so I did that. And then I decided I wanted to see animals, so I went to Africa. It doesn't matter if you're not enjoying yourself or if you're taking too long or pissing people off... as long as you keep trying you will get there eventually-- just don't expect immediate results all the time.

 

[bsammy]

It's not always about having an initial interest, it's about trying things because you have hope for yourself. You don't know everything about everything so you can't say for sure that there isn't anything out there that won't click. And even if nothing clicks and you absolutely hate everything you ever do, then at least you can say that you did it.

You don't have to be eager and full of life and excited about everything to try new things-- you can do new things awkwardly and angrily and still gain some degree of satisfaction in retrospect.

I used to be really closed off too and thought everything was stupid, but then I started traveling. Going to a new place can really wake you up about everything you take for granted... no matter what you do, if you escape your routines and keep going, then eventually you're going to come across something that is going to reach out, grab you, and shake the dust off your brain.

And when just being abroad wasn't enough, I decided I was going to start hiking up mountains... so I did that. The satisfaction came from achieving that goal. And then I decided I liked caves, so I started doing that. And then I decided I wanted to learn how to dive, so I did that. And then I decided I wanted to see animals, so I went to Africa. It doesn't matter if you're not enjoying yourself or if you're taking too long or pissing people off... as long as you keep trying you will get there eventually-- just don't expect immediate results all the time.

thats the thing, i have tried mma classes, hanging out with old friends, going to new places, im still waiting for the 'pleasure' aspect to kick in..i dont see myself flying out of country anytime soon, def no interest there..i dont expect to be like a kid jumping for joy and doing cartwheels, but i do expect to come home feeling a decent amount of pleasure having done whichever activity i pursued..

 

[Kiwong]

Maybe you are trying too hard to feel pleasure or happiness? When I try to be happy, or expect pleasure, often it doesn't happen.

Happiness or pleasure happens to me when I put myself in a position to experience living. When I open myself to experience, good, bad or indifferent. Happiness is the rarest of emotions, it waits just out of sight, while I am not focused on it, and jumps up and surprises me. If I try too hard to hold onto happiness, it slips through my fingers, and vanishes.

 

[Srijita52]

I'm not the least interested. If it was upto me I would die right this moment but I hang on because I don't want to quit.

 

[Srijita52]

Maybe you are trying too hard to feel pleasure or happiness? When I try to be happy, or expect pleasure, often it doesn't happen.

Happiness or pleasure happens to me when I put myself in a position to experience living. When I open myself to experience, good, bad or indifferent. Happiness is the rarest of emotions, it waits just out of sight, while I am not focused on it, and jumps up and surprises me. If I try too hard to hold onto happiness, it slips through my fingers, and vanishes.

Agreed.....

 

[Graeme1988]

I'm not the least interested. If it was upto me I would die right this moment but I hang on because I don't want to quit.

Yeah, I feel the same way.

 

[Anxy]

Life isn't interesting to me, and neither stuff in it are. I don't really like much things... most of them that other people enjoy simply bore me.

 

[S_Spartan]

Life isn't interesting to me, and neither stuff in it are. I don't really like much things... most of them that other people enjoy simply bore me.

I feel like this all the time now. The passion has left the building. I don't really know what to do about it. Nothing excites me. Nothing inspires me.

The ONLY thing right now that makes me feel even a little tiny bit excited is that my year of gym membership is starting to pay off with muscle tone and more of an athletic body. What I will do with that I don't really know but it is nice to see some little result for all the time and money put in. But again, if you don't have a life does it really matter if you are in shape or not?

Other than that, my life right now is static, passionless, boring, and filled with a sense of ennui.

I don't really know what to do about it so I sit here and wait for life to send me someone or something(hopefully good!) to get me out of this rut.

But so far it has mainly been a loss:

My cat died last Nov, I gave up porn so there goes that, I used to enjoy eating cake everyday but gave that up to lose weight, the few friends that I had managed to hang on to don't call or text anymore, I don't buy as much music anymore because it doesn't excite me much..

1st world problems, I know...but still, nothing to replace them when they go.

 

[bsammy]

Life isn't interesting to me, and neither stuff in it are. I don't really like much things... most of them that other people enjoy simply bore me.

yeah but according to some people all you have to do is 'try new things' and then life will change..do you agree with this statement?

 

[Froggy246]

For me it's not so much a matter of interest as it is motivation. I love telecommunications, science fiction, creative writing, and cooking, but it's hard to do more than read a Wikipedia article and watch a few episodes of something at times.

This is my problem as well, it's incredibly frustrating, I'm not sure which is worse.

 

[Anxy]

yeah but according to some people all you have to do is 'try new things' and then life will change..do you agree with this statement?

Let's be honest, to try new things you need money. Not always, but very often. I'm not the kind of person who can enjoy everyday little things.

 

[theslowesthand]

the problem with this statement is if you dont have the initial interest to begin with, how does one even start up new activities?thats where i differ from most folks, they seem eager to learn and practice new hobbies..my interest isnt there to begin with except for a few different things im into..
even when my mood is lifted, my interest level doesnt increase..

My motivation is generally a fairly temperamental/impulsive/random kind of thing. It almost always only arises concerning my very few "interests" or "hobbies". And so :. it almost never arises in relation to other, real-world things/activities (i can get some "motivation" but certainly not "passion", involving these/most other things in life). I flit from project to project, never completing hardly anything, but often "gleefully" beginning them; this is due to my motivation not being set-in-stone for almost all my activities/interests/hobbies in life .. but instead it regulalry waxes/wanes .. and i simply follow it wherever it goes (which usually isn't very far at all, but when you're depression-prone/manic/etc you tend to cling-on to whatever small motivation/passion you can get)

 

[bsammy]

Let's be honest, to try new things you need money. Not always, but very often. I'm not the kind of person who can enjoy everyday little things.

well having money hasnt helped me at all tbh..if anything its almost a brutal reality check as i have bought new things with some distant hope of sparking some interest but nope...i buy things and i lose interest very quickly..there is just no spark of enthusiasm there..

 

[Odo]

Let's be honest, to try new things you need money. Not always, but very often. I'm not the kind of person who can enjoy everyday little things.

Maybe this is what you need to try?

 

[Anxy]

well having money hasnt helped me at all tbh..if anything its almost a brutal reality check as i have bought new things with some distant hope of sparking some interest but nope...i buy things and i lose interest very quickly..there is just no spark of enthusiasm there..

You know, I wasn't saying money is everything you need in life and stuff. But it allows you to try a lot of new things, right?
I'm also quickly losing interest in things and even if I bought them - that doesn't matter, but still.

Maybe this is what you need to try?

Tried. Didn't enjoy it much. Yeah.

 

[deadair]

I have a few collections/interests that diverts my attention from depression, or gives inspiration, but sometimes they don't work too. For me, the future is bleak, I have no purpose at all in life. I'm not interested in what most of society does. Like Kiwong, I try to appreciate the everyday little things in life (scent of a soap, a favorite drink, the breeze on your face, a good article, no pain in body, etc.), to get through the everyday existence (you have to find a way when too much negativity is eating you up). But in totality, I think I only live for my parents (supporting them in everything they do, accompanying them), living my life for them and not for myself, that's why my greatest fear is if one day they'll be gone, my life had ended as well. :sad:

 

[FountainandFairfax]

I'm interested, I'm just not very active.

It's like I've been in a holding pattern for a really long time, waiting to land... and I've refueled in mid-air 9,000 times and all the passengers died fifteen years ago. ha ha

 

[Pacific_Loner]

Isn't it a matter of energy in the end? It seems to me that a lot of people here has chronic health issues, known of them or not (chronic pain, allergies, digestive problems, and anxiety of course are very tiring), which takes away their energy and/or cause attention issues that keep them from finding the will to invest themselves in their interests and take action, and can appear as laziness.

 

[ack940]

Isn't it a matter of energy in the end? It seems to me that a lot of people here has chronic health issues, known of them or not (chronic pain, allergies, digestive problems, and anxiety of course are very tiring), which takes away their energy and/or cause attention issues that keep them from finding the will to invest themselves in their interests and take action, and can appear as laziness.

This makes sense to me. I fell very low on energy lately.