I had a clear realization early in life: life has no meaning at all. Nothing really has any meaning. We are just neurons firing, chemical reactions constrained

I had a clear realization early in life: life has no meaning at all. Nothing really has any meaning. We are just neurons firing, chemical reactions constrained by physical laws. Later, when I read Buddhism, it says similar things. So, should we just prepare ourselves for death like the ancient Jains who starved themselves to death because nothing had any meaning? That would be pretty worthless, innit? I have discovered a simple, yet, profound truth: "Meaning is what you assign to stuff with stern agency. Nothing else." You are the sole assigner of meaning, and you do the assigning, and it's your life's mission to stick to it. I have found meaning in health, self-preservation through earning money, love- romantic and other kinds, parents, dog, learning new things, music, enjoying small things in life, helping others selflessly, and making it a mission to contribute to society as much as possible so maximum number of people can realize such intricacies of the nature of reality. Yes, I was in your situation before. And I did bounce back. All it took me was being in ICU for 15 days when I was 21, fully conscious but fully paralized and ventilated. And meditations. A lot of it. (I fully recovered within two months, and currently live a fully healthy life with no medications.)