Part of life is to use your senses and be stimulated. I'm not sure what exactly makes life worth living, but the one thing I do know is that since we're here we might as well play the game. I favor the words of Og Mandino who says that life is precious and can be beautiful, but it's a game. And in the end, I cannot help but think life is simply a game. The rules of which I am still figuring out.
I'd like to take a sentiment from another teacher of life, Jim Rohn, who says that there is no happiness/joy without suffering. So, surely both of those are part of life. We've got to have a little bit of both. A life led purely for pleasure and enjoyment certainly seems to me that it would be vapid and ultimately unfulfilling. It's quite a conundrum to swallow, but if you think on it for a while you may come to the same conclusion.
But then that begs another question, is it better to suffer than to live in happiness? That turns out to be a tougher question to answer than it seems at first. When it's all said and done, it's a question I certainly need to think more about. More importantly, it's something that needs to be weighed on both ends.
All of these seemingly oddball questions stemmed from my musings over the question, "What makes life worth living?"
If you dare to ask yourself this question, you may be in for some shocking revelations.
The following 2 life resources have served me and may help you muse over this question as well:
How to Have Your Best Year Ever (my favorite self improvement resource)
and
Og Mandino Secrets of Success an eye-opening audio book about life... far more than merely material success.
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4 comments:
At times we wonder, why do we have to suffer so much. Life is so short on this earth. My aunt used to encourage me, when I feel depressed saying 'there is something precious awaiting you at the other end'. That is in heaven. But what about life on earth?
A question arises then why did God give me life if it was to suffer till the very end. The truth is that we are born for a purpose by the almighty. But we have to be patient till THE DAY He decides to shower His blessings on us. So our life should be with the hope for a better tomorrow which makes life worth living.
Good question, one I have been asking myself lately. You see in April, I chose homelessness for a plethora of reasons but one of them being to find my own happiness over society's happiness.... Now, as I have slept in my car, stayed with friends and today find myself not knowing what the heck I am doing I find myself in a puddle tears.. I was just asking the source for a divine intervention... I said, "Anything. I don't know how much more of this I can take... at first it was fun...but now... Just please help." Then I realized that sometimes divine interventions are wrought with human hardship... so I said, "Anything gentle that raises me... please don't put me anywhere bad or uncomfortable." Anyway, right after that, I got a few e mails of hope from small leaps of faith I have taken over the past few days in the direction of my hearts desire.... I don't know that they will lead me anywhere, but they reminded me of why I initially made this big choice for myself...
To me, what makes life worth living is rising above "obstacles" and becoming yourself, following your heart and learning to be in the flow.... I don't believe we are meant to suffer... I don't think being human is natural to our spiritual essences... but I do think the source wants us to ask, to seek and to find what we need to alleviate our own as well as others suffering too....
What makes life worth living to me, is finding answers to my own deep yearnings and getting to the bottom of why I am in this particular human experience and why my soul chooses to dance with other souls... I will probably never get to the bottom of it all, but i think the journey is so worth finding the ever unfolding evolution of my soul.
Thanks for reading my rambling thoughts. :)
Your first question (What are the rules in the game of life?) made me ask myself: Are we all playing the same game? For example, the rules one lived by to get through childhood are not necessarily the same rules that helps one live a good adult life.
Another question that comes to mind is: What is the nature of the rules? Are they like laws of nature (you are stuck with them and cannot break them), laws of regulations (you are stuck with them but can break them...albeit with penalties), or, [per the Pirates of the Caribbean] more like guidelines (you can pick the ones you want to hang with and drop them whenever you want)?
Much advice offered for specific areas in life (marriage, leadership, stock market, business, etc.) is in rules that are like guidelines (if you do this, you are rewarded with that).
I would believe that there are probably some rules of each type for life in general.
How do you find what rules are meaningful? They only mean something to you if they affected you in some way.
Thank you very much to all three of you. You've definitely contributed to this post and blog, and your input has certainly given us all more to think about.
Thank you so much for sharing.
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