I have a pretty rock-solid daily routine, which keeps me constantly occupied, and i always have many projects on the go at any one time (mainly programming). So i always feel "needed" as such, and always have a sense of purpose, and very seldom do i feel "at a loose end"
So basically i just keep very busy all the time, and live mainly for the small pleasures/comforts in the moment. I don't think of the past, or the future, just the right-now.
Edit: Thinking about it, i actually use my constant busy-ness, binging on comfort food, sometime binging on alcohol, nervous habits, my obsessional programming, etc, as ways to prevent me from "feeling" (as when i "stop", i tend to feel somewhat "bored" (usu apprehensive/nervous/lonely)). But if i "keep going" constantly, from the moment i arise to the moment i go to sleep, then i can contually be evading my problematic feelings? So, in that case, really i am "numbing-out" everything & just escaping into my own private little world .. but for now i seem to be content with this state of affairs (probably because it's WAY WAY better than being depressed/etc; ie i'm content with just evading my "major sh*t"). Maybe i should be trying to aim a little higher with my life, now that i'm out of the "poo"?
Edit2: I am constantly blotting-out my negative subconscious thoughts, with mental/sensory positives (is a "task" (requires constant vigilance/activity), but i'm managing pretty well i think)
And I feel quite content with my present life, in spite of my problems (probably cause my mind is off my problems for most of the time). So for example, the fact that i've probably "wasted my whole life away" to date doesn't bother me
But of course i am lucky enough to have my depression, mood swings, alcoholism, anxiety, panic attacks, anger, irritabilty, paranoia, etc, etc under control, or at least quite manageable. I can recall that in "those bad old days" i lived for quite different things than i do today (you know - scared to botch-up suicide attempt, not wanting to put family through pain of my loss, leaving projects unfinished, haven't had a chance to revenge myself at world, etc, etc)
So i suppose, what a person is "living for" might depend on "where they're currently at" in life (??). And
just maybe the two might be
interdependent upon each other??? This I find to be a very interesting concept!! I'll have to ponder on it some more...