[cambalache]

Not that I dont believe you, but why dont you share what the options are? The problem is that if you say something along the lines of "family and friends" there are millions of people who for different reasons dont get to enjoy good experiences in that front or any experience at all. Same with health, travel, food, jobs, peace, company, love, justice or hope.

[kgin]

I don't think there's one answer for this. Life on its own is ultimately a tragic story for everyone. So once we have our basic necessities met, it's the job of each of us to try to layer on top of that tragic story a personal story of meaning, a story explaining why the pain mattered somehow.

That layered story can take many forms. The most time-tested one is having children. But there are many other ways to write the story too.

There's also no law saying we have to layer any story of meaning at all, but human brains seem to really crave it and don't seem to do well without one.

[JabavuAdams]

You're right but I don't want to put stress on anyone in a difficult situation by adding a "job" of finding meaning. Sometimes the only thing you have to do is survive the night. That's enough.

[JabavuAdams]

If you can survive to live another day, eventually joy will find you, or you will find joy. Just keep surviving. One of the hallmarks of suicidal depression and ideation is a feeling of increasingly severe constraints until there's only one way out. In all but the most unlikely situations these are not real constraints but are the product of a malfunctioning mind.