Why should life be worth living when all our heroic values are in decay?

Answer 1

A very good question indeed.

On one hand we need to live a balanced, harmonious, rational and matured life. On the other hand there are occassions that call for heroism which most of the time harms us in a way that it unbalances and disturbs our normal life and hence our progress.

The above dilemma exists because the true values are not being practiced or not beeing seen in our daily observations and experiences. Someone is dishonest, someone else is powerful but misuses his power in a way that is harmful to us and the society at large. What should we do ? What is the right thing to do ?

Every good human being, noble person, ethical and moral person is supposed to live with good values. However if one does it too much then it becomes unbalancing and does not produce good results either for the practitioner of the values or for the society at large. The skill lies in striking a balance between the two. Live life with aspirations of practising good values but within the normal harmony and balance.

God does not bestow the skill and ability of practising good values in bounties to the common mass of people in general.
The ability and knowledge of consistently practising good values in the right way develops within one as one progresses ahead in the spiritual development in the right direction. This ability is not distributed like a piece of cake by the giver, the one and the only, the God. Skill, ability and knowledge of practising good values like good ethics, good morality etc. has to be earned by one through efforts on progressing on the right path that leads one towards God, the one and only. WIthout which true ethical and moral values are not present in one's life and their demonstrations are either not possible or are limited and marked by some bad values or are simply transitory in nature.

So practice of good values is not being seen often, only seldom you may see them. This is because there are actually very few who would like to and are able to walk on the right path of progress towards the one and the only. As explained above these gems are not freely distributed but are reserved for the ones who sincerely and honestly follow the path towards "God" adroitly and deftly.

Now the purpose of living is to put an effort in moving along the right path so that good qualities are cultivated within one and one is able to practice good ethical and moral values in a "balanced" and "harmonious" way by one's nature through good qualities. One who aspires to live a life with good and ethical values is actually seeking the right way to move ahead towards the one and the only, the "God". Now such a person when walks on the right path will develop these qualities within oneself by the God's will or with God's true grace. His life will be a good example to others no matter how big or small he is or becomes as a person or in his or her profession. So the objective to practice good values if not today then in future, in more intense and balanced form through cultivating necessary qualities makes the life worth living. This aspiration and efforts to live the right kind of life are the objectives behind living and aspiring to live a good life.

As described above such an objective is met through putting an effort to lead a life on the right path that leads one towards "the one and the only", the "God".

Answer 2

Hi Third P.

I do not believe all our values are in decay. Unfortunately, the values of many people ARE in decay. But there are far more people who still maintain strong values, if not stronger because of the decay of society's moral fiber.

We may see evidence of moral decline by watching the news, reading the newspapers, etc. However, the news media do not show much about the positive things that DO occur. Virtue is seemingly not celebrated in society these days.

Virtue is, however, alive & well in this world. Heroes, as a general rule, stay behind the scenes, are quiet, & are rarely captured by the media's "eye."

If you stay alert, with a sharp eye, you will see/hear about numerous accounts of truly valiant deeds done by "regular" people. These "heroes" put their own lives in danger to save the lives of other human beings. I'm not speaking of those who get paid to do dangerous jobs — although they are also certainly heroes.

We need to keep hope strong within our hearts. God has put us here, which is why life should be worth living. He has also given us free will, which is why some people live a virtuous life & others do not.

We must first focus on our own morals, our own virtues. We need to meditate & pray constantly, as we go through life, and not let the negative aspects corrupt our own thinking. We need only to focus on our own actions. These actions may be observed and emulated by others, helping them to become more virtuous.

Just because someone lives a quiet existence does not preclude them from being either heroic or moral. Christ does teach us to do things in secret — basically don't "toot your own horn" about the good deeds we have done, etc. Rather, keep things quiet, and our reward will be in Heaven.

Also, we do see society falling into decay, nations warring, morality declining, natural disasters in abundance. Jesus teaches us that in "the last days," these things will happen. We are not to be afraid. I do believe we are in the final days. When I say "final days," they can be in my lifetime or 1,000 years from now — we do not know how long the final days will be.

As long as life exists, life is then worth living.

God gave us life; it is His to end it.

Peace.

Answer 3

The world is changing incessantly. In othe words, change is the only constant. Values change, too. The transitional period is the most painful part. That's why all of us are suffering.
As the values change, the heroic acts change. Today's hero is not a warrior. S/he is a person who thinks and questions and helps others think and find a better way. Today's hero is a person whose train of mind doesn't run with the superficial materialistic view of the day. S/he is someone like you who questions and reminds us of our free will, of the good things which we have not done yet. As long as people like you exist, life worths living.
Thanks for keeping us alive, dear hero.

Answer 4

So that you may inspire others to live as well. By believing that life is worth living, you allow others to think that there is hope, that there is someone still who believes in something because you want to live. By believing that life is worth living, you become a hero yourself. People would want to believe what YOU believe.

Heroic values are not in decay. They are just changing.

Answer 5

Values don't decay , they simply go into disuse. The values themselves are as vital as they have ever been. The reason you should live despite the crisis in the observation of these heroic values is so that YOU can be the hero and example of these values. Someone had to play that role in ages past, things don't just happen. if you are disturbed by these things then hear that as a calling to be a hero and example of those values.

Answer 6

Heroic values have always led to war. War heroes, police heroes, Crusade heroes...

They are in decay because we no longer believe that they can improve our lives and societies!

Answer 7

My heroic values are not in decay. Why are yours? Maybe you should re-evaluate what you call "heroic".

Answer 8

But, they're not in decay, kind sir. They still exist and always will. The present times only make it a little difficult to see them. I blame it on the media.

Answer 9

To attain our eternal relationship with God also known as Krishna, Jehovah, Allah, Vishnu, etc.) we are not to take our own life because we will end up as disembodied souls (ghosts) and this will prolong our misery. We have to take courage and take shelter of The Supreme Lord and His eternal representatives such as Jesus and Prabhupada. We should never give up and at the end of life we will attain the supreme destination if we think of God at the time of death. Thanks

Answer 10

a perfect world is not worth living. a world that is in decay is good for the creative soul.