Why continue living life? Whats the motivation, what makes it worth the effort?

Question

Im a young christian, and have not been through great hardship or suffering, but i simply do not see the point in life. I feel very little motivation to continue living, and wonder if this is a widespread feeling, or if other people have some powerful motivation. Many say love or religion, but i believe i have experianced both (i am a devout christian and have a girlfriend), and neither one makes me feel i want to continue living. That being said, i fully appreciate the fortune i have in being healthy, provided for, and having all the caring people around me, but none of that gives me a reason for living.

So with this belief, logically, life shouldnt be worth living. I have contemplated suicide, but am held back solely by fear of pain of dying and the unknown. So, i ask, what makes other people continue living, and do the majority of people feel the way i do?

Answer 1

You're too close to the trees to see the forest.

We are in the middle of a war between life and death. Death is all around us. Things conspire to steal life away from us, from bacteria to terrorists...even depression (sabatoged by our own minds and biological processes!).

You are free to choose to give up your life to the forces of death, but then you couldn't do anything else...seems to be a waste. Life, then, is a very rare gift, considering everything else in the universe that is not alive and the countless opportunities for you to die.

We exist, because we don't want death to win. Our existence paves the way for future things to exist, continuing and evolving life. The world is much more interesting with life in it.

And it should make you angry that things around you are trying to take your life away. So even if you feel you don't have anything to live for, fight on principle alone...soldier on.

Answer 2

If you are a true christian and think that this world is basically a test to see if you deserve an ETERNAL life of happiness and joy, I don't see how you can possibly lack motivation to live unless you have a chemical imbalance in your brain.

Maybe you need to see a psychiatrist and get some meds to see if it helps.

Since you are a christian, I would advise you (and your girlfriend) to follow Jesus' advice and get rid of everything you own and devote your life to helping the downtrodden exactly like he did. Shouldn't he be your best role model? If your next 60 years on earth are a test, stop delaying!!! That's 60 years compared to... forever. I mean FOREVER, come on. How hard can it be to see the trade-off?

-atheist

To answer the rest of your question, you are right, there is no reason at all for any life to continue anywhere. If an asteroid hit tomorrow and wiped us all out, the earth would continue to spin around the sun for the next 3 billion years anyway. Humans are an accident and mean nothing to the universe. But I'm an atheist/nihilist, apparently you are not.

And Flyingdove is wrong, the one unfogivable sin is blasphemy, not suicide. The bible does NOT say suicide is unforgiveable anywhere.

Answer 3

Just because you can't see any good coming in the future, there is in fact, more good than bad comin' up! Think about it for a second - what would you categorize good and bad? Then think of the easy ways of making your life better; going to an amusement park is a great way to blow off some steam. Find a hobby or something you'd love to do! If you're really good at something, you might be able to find a job that pays well! There is ALWAYS something someone can do well. You're no exception, buddy. Always think positive - if honesty has a negative connotation to it, don't think about it. I'm not saying to neglect real life and its challenges, but to not look at something in a bad way if you could look at it in a good way. And don't forget - You only have one life, and you don't have the worst life on earth. There are millions of people who make no money at all, living on the streets. If you think YOU'RE working hard, think about them once in a while, breath a sigh of relief you're not them, and move on with your life. You can do it buddy.

Answer 4

I believe that life exists for the sake of life. There is no reason I see why amino acids should arrange themselves in such a way that allows life. Yet billions of years ago they did. And ever since life has been evolving. We may feel as if all life before us has led to human existence ut we are just one link in the chain. Something out there, call it god or nature, is stopping us from dying until the link is complete and time can continue onto the rest of the chain. So I don't think it matters whether people see the reason to life. The purpose of life is to continue living until new life can take its place. And without religion, thats the only reason we'll get.

Answer 5

You might consider the motivation to live this: God gave you life, and it's His to take away. So do not kill yourself. If living is that bad, maybe you should try to make it better for others. That will keep your mind off how empty yours is and pretty soon it won't be so empty. Volunteering in your community can help with that a lot.
I think the majority of people feel like you do, at least at some point, and many for years. If you explore your interests and stay open-minded, you'll find a path to follow. Don't give up!

Answer 6

I certainly didn't think life was not worth living when I was your age. My father was an alcoholic, my first husband died of a brain tumor when I was 25 and he 27 and I was pregnant with our second child. After five years I dated a man who told me he was a widower. I fell madly in love with him. He turned out to have a wife and 2 children. I married again after about six months to a man who didn't want sex for most of the 12 years we were married. When he was 45, he left me for his 19 year old secretary. There's more...but I don't want to bore you more than I already have. Have I ever thought of suicide? You betcha. However, as you mentioned, even though I too am a believer in Christ, fear of the unknown and being chicken prevents me from doing anything about it. Besides, death is so permanent.

I advise you to see a doctor. I think you are suffering from clinical depression and need help badly. If your life was as wonderful as you say it is, you would not think life is not worth living. What will happen to you if something dreadful happens? Get some help.

Answer 7

Well, first of all, I would strongly suggest that you seek counseling through social services. Coming here to Yahoo Answers is not necessarily the best place to come for information or suggestions when a person has reached such a depressed state in their life. In short - get help and get it now!

I have a very good life; a wife that loves me, as well as a son and grandson.

We enjoy many, many activities that are available to most people; ie, not expensive.

What makes me want to put my feet on the floor in the morning and take another breath of air?

My family, my hobbies, nature, music, many things.

Even though I have known people in my life that have battled depression, I have never been able to understand how a person could not find ONE thing in this whole world that they couldn't claim as a reason to keep living.

You are in a very dangerous state of mind, and you should seek professional help immediately.

Answer 8

I too am a devout Christian and am sometimes wondering the same thing. We spend our lives trying to accomplish things, please others, be remembered when we die, yet what is it all for? There are questions that hold answers we can't possibly comprehend. I feel this is a question no human can simply answer because it varies for everyone. all people have something that drives their life. I would recommend for you to read The Purpose Driven Life. I've read it and it taught me that life is beautiful. That God loves is unconditional, and the life we live on Earth is not pointless. Everyone has a purpose.

Answer 9

Lets look at both sides of the argument for where everything came from before I answer your question. If there is no God and we evolved, it took billions of years of evolution, from our planet being born from the ashes of a nuclear furnace (the sun's formation) to all of the infinitely complex evolutions that played the cosmic lottery time and time again to get to your existence. By all statistical rights you shouldn't exist, yet you do. Likewise, if you believe in God, the shear volume of thought and beneficent creativity that went into your individual creation could not even be fathomed by people. Either way you look at it, the very fact you exist at all is jaw droopingly amazing. We see casual violence on TV and think that lives are expendable, but the truth is that you are utterly unique in the universe and have not, nor will you ever, exist again as you do now.

We often think that two things that are alike are the same thing, just occurring at different times or places. But the truth is both instances are unique, never to have occurred before and never to occur again. It is the belief that we can hold something static and permanent that causes trouble for us. We try to make things as it was, but that can never be. All things change and are impermanent; this is an indisputable fact of life. You too are changing all of the time. Both mentally and physically. None of the cells in your body are the same ones when you were a child, yet you feel like the same person, yet changed. Since you know you will change in parallel to life around you, if you are willing to take control over your change, you can change your perspective about things that bother you. Ultimately, how happy you are about life depends solely on you. If someone is angering you, it is not them that is actually making you angry, it is YOU deciding to be unsatisfied, thus changing your inner condition to anger. If you don't like the view, change your perspective. Find something to be happy about in the crappy situation, be rational.

The trick that has saved me is to find something, anything, to be rationally and compassionately happy about in every moment. In the very moment you are in. Don't worry too much about the future, that will happen later and can be delt with then. Don't worry about the past, simply learn from it and remember that it has already happened and will never happen again. You are what you think; what thoughts you hold in your mind. Bad thoughts are ok to have, but only to notice it is a thought and let pass. If you fixate on bad thoughts, they become the object of your attention and fester. On the other hand, if you think happy thoughts and concentrate on those, you will find yourself a far more content person. Good luck, and remember, it's all about your frame of Mind.

Answer 10

I have gone through hard times as well as good times and what kept me living was that deep down I knew that there was a universe in imagination, colors and lights inside of me and that I could never voluntarily end all that.
I think you will see all this more clearly during your life, which is unique. Please don't do anything foolish, you don't know yet what is waiting for you just around the corner: everyday can bring you what you are looking for in an unexpected way.