We cannot choose to have meaning in our lives

Many people would say that a meaningful life is all about our way of thinking. That for your life to be worth living, all it requires is a change of thinking. That it is our way of thinking that dictates whether our lives have meaning or not. But this is not the case and I am going to explain why. Perceiving your life as worth living (meaningful), that is a certain mental state. You have to be in that mental state in order for your life to have meaning.

This mental state is not the same thing as thinking and telling yourself that your life is meaningful. There is a big difference here between the two. I have ocd and when I have struggled with an obsessive worry that has made my life miserable, that made everything in my life completely insignificant (meaningless). Everything in my life was completely dead and empty.

It didn't matter what I told myself. Even though I thought to myself that my life was still worth living and that everything in my life was still meaningful, that did absolutely nothing. My life was still completely empty. Therefore, as you can see here, having meaning in your life is a certain mental state and is not a matter of simply thinking to yourself that your life is still meaningful.

This mental state is turned off during obsessive worries and in some cases of depression. When this mental state is turned off, that makes everything in your life meaningless. That makes your life completely devoid and empty and no way of thinking can make your life meaningful. You have to wait until the depression/obsessive worry passes. Only then will that mental state turn back on.

Once that mental state turns back on, that is when your life will be meaningful again. Everything in your life will be filled with significance once again. Everything I have explained here is my personal experience. This is my experience with having depression and ocd. Many people would say that only selfish people perceive their lives as meaningless when they have depression/ocd.

But everything I have written here is an attempt to debunk this false nonsensical notion that is completely ignorant of the suffering of those who struggle with depression/ocd. It makes them look like they are selfish people when, in reality, it is not their fault since that mental state that allows these people to perceive their lives as meaningful, that mental state is turned off.

I am currently having an obsessive worry in my life that has taken my life away from me. My life continues to remain completely empty regardless of what I do, how I think, etc. and this is not my fault. It does not mean I am selfish.