Title. My DMs are open, and I am willing to have meaningful conversation about what a coherent, long term direction that is actually cared about and much separated from other routes would be, and a discussion about the facets of that, what would comprise it, and its intricacies.

Now there are more paths than ever to take currently, this has been an expanse into this. However it becomes less clear which would be the best choice long term, especially considering future technology.

What is worth sacrificing for? What is there that is worth enduring for? What is the something that you REALLY care about in so much that you pursue it at the expense of downtime and other deficiencies because of your enthusiasm for it? This is a theme I have been exploring. If anybody would like to have meaningful conversation, DM. I believe this is a possibility that can be undertaken at any point in life, since this theme of there being something to live for obsoletes limitation, imo.

Let me start by saying that I'm a piece of shit. Now that that's out of the way - Married 10 years, two little boys (7.5, 6). Gainfully employed. Family, friends, or casual onlookers would say I've got it made. I want none of it.

I've been working with a psychologist/career coach for the last four months to try and come up with a personal statement of purpose, and my page is still blank.

One question I ran across: if there were no limits in life, how would you like to see yourself 10 years from now? My answer: alone in the wilderness fighting for my own survival. Like Castaway style, but without a Wilson, for the remainder of my life.

I feel like I'm crushed by responsibilites, both personally and professionally, and I provide for others with minimal ability to meet any of my own needs. I've given up all my hobbies. Diet is trash, no exercise. I've put on over 30lb in the last year. Two nights a week the wife and kids are gone for classes, and I sit at home in silence and do nothing. It's the best part of my week. I don't want to be at work, and I don't want to be at home (unless I'm alone).

I've also been under the care of a psychiatrist for the last 2 months doing ketamine treatments for low mood, but I feel like I'm sliding (if not there already) into full blown depression.

Long term, I feel like my kids would be better off, psychologically, if I just left, so they didn't have to witness this spiral on a day to day basis.

I have no guiding purpose, though, it's not for lack of trying.

I don't want to be dead, I just want to be left alone.

I don't know how to find a purpose while I'm stuck in this rut.

Yeah uh what the title says idk everything is meaningless so please give me a goal or something

Hi everyone, this is my first post so I am just throwing something out there. In a paragraph can you tell me about a time in your past where you felt most alive and how did that relate or enhance your purpose in life.

For example, the day(s) my kiddos were born. The connection I felt to my wife, God, my kids, the Earth, my community. It seemed to encompass all the facets of my life in a single moment. I have my multiple layers of purpose in my life, but the birth of my kids highlighted the love that I share amongst all these things and therefore love being at the heart of my purpose.

Thank you all!

Don't Fw someone money because you don't know what will happen to you everyday is a blessing and a live lesson don't let it get over your head it's better to be yourself than be liked by everyone else.

A while ago, I felt completely lost in my career. As a generalist with countless interests, I was constantly pulled in different directions. I could see myself thriving in various roles, but committing to one path felt suffocating. My creativity sparked endless ideas, but it also led to "shiny object syndrome," resulting in career jumps and a lot of unfinished projects.

For a long time, I struggled with the desire to make an impact while wanting mastery. Yet, my diverse passions made it hard to focus and stay consistent. It was frustrating not to have a clear path that aligned with my potential and brought me joy and success.

The pain of this struggle got so deep that I realized I needed to change. I started reading tons of career and self-improvement books and doing some serious reflection. Here are the three key things that helped me the most:

1. I discovered what energizes me. I started an energy log, making it a daily habit to jot down three things that energized me the most.
2. I dissected my interests. I took time to understand what specifically attracted me to each passion.
3. I defined my ideal lifestyle. I envisioned what I wanted from life beyond just work, which clarified my priorities.

These insights allowed me to create a personal vision that narrowed down my choices. One of the biggest issues I faced was having too many options, leading to choice overload. But by clearly defining what I want most, saying "no" to everything else became intuitive and natural.

What truly made the difference was my ability to define that personal vision—what I genuinely want. This motivation feels entirely different and much more meaningful. It gives me purpose.

A few months into this process, I'm happy to say that thinking about my ideal life and work vision energizes me like nothing else. I find myself reflecting on it while I'm at the gym, which drives me to push harder. It motivates me to wake up early and gives me the courage to tackle challenges outside my comfort zone.

While I can’t say this motivation will last forever, I can confirm that it has fueled me for several months now.

I post this in the hopes that other fellow generalists find some hope and guidance, as that is what I would have wished for a few years back.

“I have struggled with my relationship with food and binging/restricting since middle school. It has been and it still is a weekly, daily thing- with food predominately on my mind in all situations. It’s marked events in my life and a continual burden and thought I still have not conquered or learned how to manage (and I think the big thing is, I don’t know how to identify and manage my emotions many times). Presently, I literally took off work today and haven’t joined the collective yet because of the “fuck it all” mentality. I restricted to look good to see my ex boyfriend this Saturday/Sunday morning, so Sunday afternoon and evening to today I have eaten like crazy and bought whatever foods sound endearing and pleasurable. I know eating foods never fills a void and it always, ALWAYS leaves me feeling unsatisfied, unmotivated, and disliking how I feel- yet it’s a habit I’ve lived with for years- it’s comfortable. It’s knowable…

Around March I tried and have been working towards changing my mindset and actions with food. It actually helped a lot, but triggers and weekends still felt overpowering and unmanageable. My mentality is better than it has been before, but the last few days have brought me back to old patterns. I’m not hating myself anymore for it- I am accepting I’m not the victim anymore (I am making these choices), so that has given me control and awareness back (partially). I’m choosing to do this- but why? I approach it with curiosity, but right now I am just so frustrated. Why do I keep going back to the same unhelpful and even toxic patterns, habits, and ways that I ultimately want eliminated, yet not enough to choose differently? How do I choose to have the desire enough to change these habits? Do I just do it regardless of desire and want? I’ve learned that we ought to do things, ESPECIALLY when we don’t want to. We choose to live in the uncomfortable, as that’s the only way to be different and grow. How do I make that shift to live in the ucomfortable and actually CHOOSE to decide that, everyday? Because mentally right now, I have absolutely not made that choice. I’m reaching out, because a big part of me wants to make that choice. That’s why I’m here. I’ve slowly tried to implement that (a couple times saying no to overeating, running at the park when I really didn’t want to, etc.), but god do I have an immense amount of work to do…

My “why” is scattered I think. With the losses that have occurred in my life (the passing of my father this July, the loss of my boyfriend of over a year, and the loss of my identity due to growing up Christian then completely denouncing that religion and living differently around mid 2021, so losing what I previously thought was the purpose of my existence), my direction is foggy, or even blacked out (if I can talk in visuals). I just moved in with a friend of mine now, I’m working somewhere I enjoy thankfully… I have ambitions- but they all seem fruitless and unobtainable as I don’t feel smart enough to achieve them, or strong enough to fight the struggles. And even if I found and lived in the drive to achieve them- for what? My existence and purpose of living many times boils down to, “I don’t know- maybe there is no purpose.”

I apologize if this is too much information. But the more I explain where I am, the more I might be able to find resolution, find community and ideas. Maybe some can relate with me, maybe some can offer guidance. I’m 25 and know answers are out there, and I’m tired of living the way I have for what feels like forever. I want to break the cycle. I want to find freedom from what has felt like a mental and physical stronghold for so many years. I want recovery, if that’s how people see it. I want answers. I want my life back- not that I have lost my life, it’s always been right in front of me… but maybe my sanity and logic and correct perception…

Part of me is expecting and wanting to find the solution, the one thing that will fix all these problems- but that’s not how life works, and I know it’s gonna take time, effort, dedication, inner game/inner work to get out of this “mental trap and decision barrier,” if you will, to see results. As I’m literally devouring/binging on pumpkin roll, ice cream, Nutella, and animal crackers as we speak (as I’m typing all this out)… what’s the resolution? How have you all overcome this? How have you found freedom from food, if at all? How have you found and/or made and/or identified your “why?”How do you perceive things? What’re the answers for you?

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk and ranting rampage😅- excited to hear some responses, if any at all 🙂.”

I recently overcame a tough situation that took a great toll on my mental health. Although things were tough at first, I am improving my outlook on life and the world. While introspecting, I realized I have no clear interests or purpose in life. Can someone provide insight on how I can discover my life's purpose?

I am a 32 years old unmarried, childless man and I am currently feeling lost in life. Therefore, and facing some embarrassment at first, I picked up the courage to seek professional support from a therapist for the first time in my life. Nonetheless, I've decided to post here in order to get additional advice from both men and women who are part of this community.

I think that my current feeling of being lost (or left behind) in life mainly stems from two circumstances: mild bullying which resulted in the inability to fully experience my teenage years if and when I compare them with the ones experienced by my peers and the loss of my father due to cancer when Covid-19 was ravaging in 2020. The first circumstance, in fact, turned me from a quite extroverted and carefree boy into an introverted, overthinking and resentful man while the second one wreaked havoc in my everyday life as I abruptly lost one of the most important people I was attached to in a phase in which everyone is supposed to settle down both personally and professionally. Cancer is basically like having to deal with a time bomb where you cannot see the timer and this puts you face to face with the precariousness of life.

Those events profoundly affected me, as I practically spent my teenage years most of the time alone focusing on my studies and these last years trying to settle down professionally facing great difficulties in both dealing with people (as I work in Sales & Distribution) and life itself. There are days in which I feel completely absorbed by what I am doing and therefore I manage to get things done as expected without having to deal with what my therapist calls "intrusive thoughts" and others in which I feel overwhelmed by a hurricane of negative thoughts and sensations about myself and the future ahead of me that make me cry silently on my pillow as soon as I get home at the end of the day.

I deeply regret the fact of not having been able to experience love in its blossoming, intense and raw nature during my teenage years, unlike my peers, the fact that those times and hangouts will never come back again thus leaving a deep scar inside my heart and lastly, the fact that I am very often going to be at unease in social settings when acquaintances/colleagues etc. discuss about their family, children and career prospects. At the same time I also drastically reduced the amount of time I spend on social media as people just seem to share the good things in their lives but I always try to take any opportunity to hang around my friends and family members, even if some of them are starting a family and this makes me feel at unease as I previously explained. Going out for dinner/ a movie/ a play at the theatre all by myself is too much for me to handle and, quite frankly, humiliating at the moment. Casually going out for some drinks or travelling instead, are more manageable activities but come with some strain as well.

I'd like to become more optimistic and resilient in order not to find myself alone and hopeless as I reach maturity and retirement. What advice would you give me? Thank you for your help and please forgive me if I made some mistakes but I am not a native English speaker.

I always find myself thinking about "Why should I do this?" If I start exercising to get stronger, I ask myself why; Studying physics, I wonder why; Simpler things like just sitting down and playing a game, I wonder why, and so on.

I just feel this emptiness. It's horrible to live thinking that everything you do won't have a greater purpose, and some might even say that life doesn't need such a thing, but that idea seems even worse, to me at least.

In fact I find myself constantly jumping from both extremes. There are days when I seek a greater purpose in every small action I do, even if it's just to help other people. Other times I simply embrace the little things in life and try to enjoy the simplicity of my days.

Whatever the case, I never feel satisfied. One of my favorite works is Kara no Kyoukai, and there is a phrase that I think resonates a lot with all of us: "Having infinite emptiness also means that you can be infinitely filled...". I try to value it more. Not feeling satisfied can actually be a great sign, but I feel like all I need is to find that "Something bigger" that identifies me...

If I had to make an analogy, I feel like a car with a full tank of gas but in the middle of a desert. In short, I feel something in me that just won't let me give up, but not give up on what? I don't have a direction to follow, even though I want to... It's strange, I know, but I think it's the best way to describe myself

I wanted to know if anyone else feels similarly and if they have anything to say about it. Regardless of anything, I thank you

For the past few years, I've been trying to focus on my purpose which is a close subject to my medical career but takes me on a completely different path. It seems that I'm going nowhere with it. Recently I've started to focus on my exams but they're demanding and I'm mostly sure I'll have to forget my life goals of business and purpose if I get serious with it. I also have nightmares when I focus on my career.

I feel old to pursue my purpose and too lost and far away. Should I pick my career or my purpose?

Also, I come from an asian household and I'm pursuing my career further because it makes my father happy. He has sacrificed a lot to get us here. I don't want to be a disappointment.

I've always wondered why I'm still here, fir context, I'm In my mid 30s now. Teenage and early 20s were spent partying and doing really stupid shit because I thought I was invincible. Around age 25 I decided to fight a semi truck with a dodge Dakota. (Forgot I didn't drive a Ram) I lost, 3 years later in the depths of heroin addiction I went to rehab and got clean. I got out, reconnected with an old flame, had a kid, got a good job, got promoted, bought a house. Now im living "the American dream" being stuck in the rat race while paying for kids I get maybe a couple hours with a day and a wife that is consumed by work and struggles with denial about her mental health. I myself have done plenty of that and have been seeing a therapist for over a year. I've had dozens of former classmates die, close friends, a sponsor, addict friends in addiction, addict friends in recovery. My only other long term relationship ended up getting killed in a car accident about a mile from a jobsite I was working on. during addiction we got a bad batch and I survived because I was around people while my friend who was an 18 year old girl and had a kid was alone and died. I thought about that alot during detox. Anyway, last week a guy I contract for died at 41 from a blood infection he picked up from getting sand in a cut, he has a 6 and 8 year old. It's a rare day, I'm picking the kids up from school, stuck in this ungodly unstructured car line and asking myself why the fuck am I alive. It dawns on me that I've saved quite a few people. I rolled up on two Hispanics on a jobsite in tbe middle of nowhere with one in diabetic shock and the other spoke no English. I got the paramedics there and navigated them back to where he was. His brother to this day if he sees me he always says thank you. When I was 18 I was headed to a girlfriends house and a woman and child were running down the road in the middle of the night. So I stopped, the lady was screaming he is after us and that's when I noticed some guy in a truck parked in the woods who made a break for it the moment they got in. I drove them home and made a report. Narcanned a few people. I like to believe my stroy has helped others when i was in the rooms. I saved my wife from an extremely violent ex, turns out bullies don't pick on people twice their size. Anyway, there's a few more stories but maybe, besides raising these kids, my real purpose may be linked to these and future events. I dunno. Anyway

TLDR; I gave up on being an artist, I'm depressed and can't find purpose in life.How do I keep going and find a reason to live when I'm convinced it's not worth it?

Hi! I have 27 years old, and when I was young, I wanted to be an artist or make video games. I lived my life thinking I'll go to school, find a job and live my adult life, like everyone. 

I studied 3D animation (for vfx) and I got a major depression bc I realized its not what I want to do. I just went with that bc I thought art is the only thing I'm somewhat good at. But the truth is, I've put so much pressure on myself to perform that art stopped being fun for me. It stopped being fun a loonng time ago. I thought if I'm not good enough, I wont be able to get a job. 

Then, during the pandemic, I decided to go back to school to learn 3D modeling for video games. I thought maybe if it's in a field that I have more interest in, maybe it'll be different. But history repeats itself, the same thing happened. I barely applied to any job. I had to force myself to work on my portfolio. Then, the industry kinda became chaotic, no one could find any job. My depression got worse and I gave up on being an artist. It was sad but freeing, I no longer had pressure to perform..... but I had no direction now.

Since then, Ive been living on my savings, depressed, lost. Its been a year. I'm running out of money soon, I can no longer ignore the issue. I can't live in survival mode without a goal for too long. I need a reason to wake up in the morning, something that makes me feel useful. I need a new plan. A plan that will work this time. 

It's hard to find something you like, that you are good at and that pays enough to be comfortable. Especially when you think you are not good at anything. It's hard to go back to school when you are so depressed you can't do simple tasks. It's hard to motivate yourself when you think "What's the point", when you gave up on everything. How do you convince someone who no longer wants to live that they should? When all arguments are invalid to them. "Imagine Sysiphus happy", I can't live for a momentarily relief of suffering. The life that we are expected to live as lower/middle class doesn't seem enjoyable or worth it to me. 

Despite all this, a tiny part of me still hopes. The last tiny ember that pushes me to continue everyday. How do I preserve it? How do I make it stronger than depression? How do I find a reason to go on in spite of all the suffering?

Is it worth living the life without purpose and with shattered dreams because you're living in your comfort to keep people around you happy?

Hi all. I've just joined the group. Didn't realize reddit had groups focussed on people fulfilling their potential and finding purpose. Over the past month I've taken my 45 years of learning what finding true purpose means and I've started a YouTube channel called @purposefulhumans. I want to help as many people lead their lives productively with discipline and purpose. As a high functioning anxious person I have been down the rabbit hole on finding my purpose for 8 years. And now I want to help others go on the same journey. Would love to converse and discuss ways of defining purpose and great books to read, lessons to learn on the journey. Link to channel below. Enjoy the journey and please comment if you want to discuss any aspect - all I want to do is help people find direction.

https://youtube.com/@purposefulhumans?si=wwzxTg6z7ww3rN0K

I'm having trouble with my life right now. I'm trying to find my purpose but I'm a lost soul. I don't have hobbies that I can do and enjoy that would make me lose track of time. I don't want to float through life going where the wind takes me. I've tried multiple hobbies but they don't resonate with me. And the older I get, the more sad my life is getting. Please help

I'm a 24/M currently finishing med school. This may sound like a proud achievement to some people, but it's a hollow shell for me as I'm not planning to pursue this as a career. It's not a good fit for me, basically.

Now that I've made the easy decision of quitting the career I've been working towards for the past 7 years, I feel lost. I say easy cause my family supporters my decision. Now they want to know if I'm not pursuing medicine, what am I going to "do in life". I don't know what my passion is. I have intrests and hobbies, but the moment I visualise them as a full time job, it's appeal is lost.

A purposeless human being is like a rudderless boat, just drifting over waves carried by the changing winds. I've been feeling empty and sad without a purpose to drive me.

I don't know where to start this new chapter of life. I don't know how to figure this one out yet.

I'm 51, and it feels like everyone around me is living their best life while I'm stuck in the same routine. My friends still celebrate birthdays, learning new things, and meeting new people. The fear of missing out on new experiences is getting to me. I can’t stop thinking I’m too old to start a new life. I don’t know where to start? How do you manage FOMO and find fulfillment in your own life?

I am a life coach. Ask my questions about purpose and I will answer them. I’m looking to find good questions to make YouTube videos on.

OP here. 26M, feeling lost and struggling to find my passion.

I’m not looking to uncover the meaning of life—no one truly has that answer. But I do believe that finding something I’m passionate about and dedicating myself to mastering it would be worth the pursuit.

A bit about me: I’ve been in marketing for 5 years, but I’ve only done the bare minimum to get by. My job provided a paycheck, but I found no personal fulfillment in it. I thought maybe the 9-to-5 grind was holding me back from discovering my true passion, so I left my job to start a marketing startup. It went well for about a year; I earned my previous salary with fewer hours and used the extra time to explore hobbies and skills. But nothing clicked as a lifelong passion. I enjoy jiujitsu, but not enough to devote my life to it, and it’s not popular enough in India to be a sustainable career even if I did go pro.

After a fallout with my co-founders, I left the startup. Now, I’m at a crossroads, and I feel like the decisions I make next will shape the rest of my life.

I’m searching for something that will bring me either:

1. ⁠Personal value: Passion, purpose, contentment, and just enough money to survive.
2. ⁠Professional value: If I can’t find something that brings me joy, then making a lot of money could be the next best thing—money as a buffer against life’s challenges and a means to enjoy material comforts.

One time I heard the idea that we chase purpose because we believe that if we accomplish this vague thing called purpose , then we become worthy of life. But we are already worthy to be alive because we are alive.
So instead of looking for purpose aka worth, we can just know we are supposed to be here.
Then we get to choose how to spend our time. What are your thoughts?

Today I finally walked away from my sdr cold calling job because I sucked the life out of me. I didn’t want to quit because just felt like it was another failure. I feel like I can’t find my place in this world. Every job feels so meaningless in the grand scheme of life. I want purpose. I want to feel community, stimulation, and connected to a bigger mission like helping others. I can’t sit at an office that would drive me insane. For context I’ve been and actress, babysitter, restaurant hostess (HATED that), community coordinator at a theatre which sucked, and then this sales job that ended today. I just want to feel like I’m doing something that matters. I took a long ass drive today and just realized that I am an empath and need to feel like I am making a difference. I am 29 and cannot afford to go back to a 4 year traditional college again. I told my husband I think it is time did me to do an outpatient treatment for depression and my adhd. I feel like such a fraud because no one would know that I’m struggling this bad to the point of question of I can keep living. I quit weed as well and my dad flew up to help me sort out my life. I just can’t believe I am at this rock bottom and I’m so sick of feeling afraid. All in all I’m afraid there is nothing on the other side of all this which prevents me from trying because I don’t want to be disappointed that happiness can’t exist for me. I have an incredible support system I just so badly want to find where I belong. Anyways any advice would be greatly appreciated. I know I am probably talking into the ether but I am just trying to hold out hope that there is a place from me in the world.

I have no idea what i want to do with my life and i also have no passions really the only thing i know is that i do want to be extremely wealthy and im willing to do almost anything to attain that.

Any advice on how i can determine what could be my passion

Please share your experiences on how you found your purpose and how you were able to "monetize" it.

I would also like to know what you think about Ikigai and if you know of other similar concepts.

Hello. Quick background. I graduated from school at 23 with a Masters in radiology- as a physician assistant for radiologists. Prior to this I also accomplished getting my x-ray license and my CT license (both radiology modalities). I have worked in this field for 16 years. Additional career accomplishments of note- I was a radiology resident physician Clinical Instructor. I have also taught x ray students. I have also run a MSK outpatient clinic for osteoarthritis performing joint injections with ultrasound (HA, PRP, and stem cells). Most recently, I worked for a pre/post surgical software company where I onboarded sales team members to over 50 different products, as well as, provided training for all our products- webinar based, virtual 1-1, and on site teaching. I also was a product manager at this company, and developed an IPAD software program for sales team members to use at expos for demonstration purposes. Lastly, I learned, demonstrated, and sold over 50 artificial intelligence algorithms at this same company. March of this year, my department was eliminated. I have been on unemployment since March, applying to around 20-40 jobs weekly. I was making $160k, and unemployment provides $300 a week. I have redone my resume - professionally- multiple times to reflect the different areas of my career depending on positions I apply for. Currently, I’m so depressed. I have no passion to start any business on my own. If I could just travel a living I would. I have a family- husband and two kids. I find daily life of cleaning and stepford wife type life (laundry, cooking, picking up every two seconds after everyone) overwhelming boring and pointless. I constantly think about where I can work. If I’m willing to just take $15 an hr to do an enjoyable job. I don’t even know what that would be. I just feel completely lost in my life right now and have a hard time finding the will to even get out of bed everyday. If you have been through this, what helped you day to day? What did you find motivating and joyous? Did you change your career and just work a minimum wage job? (Side note- I could find a physician assistant job in radiology/ but I would have to move and uproot my whole family. I’ve done this before multiple times. I thought getting into medical sales in software would help me be able to find a job where I didn’t have to move my whole family again. I’m so specialized, I cannot just go to the local hospital like an RN and get a job unfortunately and my oldest kid is in high school so I’m not uprooting my family again. I refuse.) any advice- career or just depression related would be great. Thanks.

Hey guys new to this app. I recently hit rock bottom with finances, lost my relationship, job hopping. Anxiety & depression you name it the whole nine yards. Everything went downhill after I got out of the Army. What are ways to finding purpose again? Tips and maybe a brief message on how you overcome adversity helps. Thank you.

I’ve been very curious to discover what drives me and really want to find it this year. I can’t really find any reviews outside of his direct site for either of these courses. Outside of one or two reviews on LinkedIn.

Has anyone invested the money in either of these courses? Was it worth it and did you find your why?

One course is far more expensive than the other. So want to get feedback before I make the investment.

🙏🏻

Hi, I'm looking for someone willing to help me find my "why" based on Simon Sinek's book (preferably someone with experience with the book). English is not my native language, but I am able to communicate through messages. Best regards :)

4o

Hello everyone,

I've recently been diving into Robert Greene's book "Mastery," and it's sparked a lot of introspection about my life's calling and how I can find a path that truly resonates with me. In the book, Greene talks about the importance of returning to our roots and identifying the activities that brought us the most joy and fulfillment in our childhood.

For me, the activities that stand out the most are building with LEGO bricks and creating elaborate structures in Minecraft. These pursuits were not just about passing the time; they were deeply fulfilling and brought out a high level of aesthetic sense and creativity in me. I could spend hours lost in the process, meticulously planning and executing my ideas, and I took great pride in the final results.

I'm reaching out to this community to seek advice and insights from those who have successfully navigated their way to finding their calling. How did you identify your true passion? What steps did you take to turn it into a career or a significant part of your life? Do you have any specific tips for someone with a background in creative building and design, like mine, who is looking to find a fulfilling path?

I appreciate any guidance, stories, or resources you can share. Thank you in advance for your help!