a lifeless man

Sideways rain. Moving greenery. Timber that is wet enough for rot to ensue. These are obvious conditions of a sad day, a pathetic fallacy - or so I am led to believe by those who like the sound of overly complex words.

But. A man, one who could be described as lifeless doesn't show the same obvious conditions. His face may not be forlorn, his lips may not be downturnt, and his eyes may be dry. Does this mean though that inside he is full of life, full of meaning, full of a lust for life?

Is it true that a person can be as broken by success as failure? Lack of purpose isn't as devastating as a lack of fulfilment in one's purpose, is it? 

So what is the difference? What is the difference between someone with purpose and fulfilled and the opposite? Is it a question of mentality or personality or biology or a combination of all three or even none? Can you learn to find fulfillment? It is true that many claim to have done so or have they just learnt to tolerate the status quo, to give up on the idea of more, to bury this indescribable inexplicable yearning?

Is it possible to know? 

People say there are things in life that can change a man. Finding love, having a child, a journey of discovery or a near death experience. But if this is true, what actually changes? At the end of whatever has “changed” you, you must still be the same person? So the conclusion is that this indifference toward existence is not who you are but something that you feel or think and could change.

I don't know.