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by shivaodin 3615 days ago
Do you have a family? A family, an SO or kids is the best way to understand life through other perspectives.
3 comments

Getting married and/or having kids is a terrible way to try to address existential boredom. A spouse will not give your life purpose. Kids probably won't either, and if it turns out that you are unhappy and resentful after your failed attempt to solve your boredom, you can easily screw up your kids' lives (and screw up your own life, because kids are not a short-term commitment).

Have kids because you want them. Not because you think they'll give your life purpose.

> Getting married and/or having kids is a terrible way to try to address existential boredom.

Starting or growing a family is a terrible way to solve problems.

If interaction with kids seems like a good use of time, start by volunteering with mentoring organizations like Big Brother/Big Sister or Boys and Girls Clubs. Or help out with the kids programs at church/temple/synagogue if you're into organized religion.

If that pans out well, consider babysitting for foster families. Foster parents do incredible amounts of good for society and get run into the ground in the process. It seems simple, but giving them a night off here and there is a huge help.

If that goes well, then maybe consider adopting or starting a family. At any rate, there are a lot of young people out there that could use positive (especially male!) role models.

Stack Overflow is definitely the best way to understand life through other perspectives
SO = Significant Other, i.e., a partner.
It makes more sense calling Stack Overflow "SO" than calling your spouse that.
Depends who spends more time with you in your life ;) I'm with my SO more than I read the website, for sure (which is minimal or rarely).

Also, the term "significant other" can mean more than spouse (which implies marriage): [boy|girl]friend, life partner, close-friend-kind-of-person, etc.

No, but I plan to start one soon. It's true that having children gives you a new perspective on life.
Most people don't find meaning in the raising of children. It changes your life a lot, but if you feel like your life is aimless and you're just on autopilot, you'll probably feel the same after having kids. It's rare for a person to define their purpose in terms of their kids and be happy about that. Most people still want to have a self-actualized purpose.
They (children) also change your priorities (...and time, plans, budget...whole life)