Why the love of life?

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I think I am doing as well as I can hope to. Thanks to medications and CBT, I am on an even keel and have been for about a year. So my psychiatrist is feeling I am functional. And I guess this is true.
I am able to not act in a self-destructive manner. I am kinda able to sustain work. I'm not crying all the time. I have shelter and food. Great! Goals accomplished.
But I still don't get it. Why is life better than non-existence? I am a biological organism functioning in it's environment ... yay. But why? What's the point?

You live in an historical apartment house in Kingston--I would say that's a start.

I ask that question all the time. Usually it's when I've obtained a certain goal and haven't made any new goals to better myself - then it seems like I just drift from one day to the next like a zombie. If I have a goal, then I have something to look forward to and work towards and it gives me hope and a reason for living. For me, religion also helps to give me a reason of why I'm here and some comfort that this earth isn't all there is.

Anybody who enables her cat to pass the NCLEX can't be all that dumb.

There is no point per se. We're just here. There's no master plan or real purpose for our existence. We find our own purpose.
Assuming you mean total nonexistence (meaning you never came about in the first place) rather than death, as for whether or not life is better than nonexistence, I can imagine it isn't necessarily better (it could be and probably is worse), but we'll never know.
[quote=nurseangela]For me, religion also helps to give me a reason of why I'm here and some comfort that this earth isn't all there is.[/quote]
I personally take more comfort in the idea that this earth is all there is. It helps me to appreciate what life I do live and make the most of it. Plus doesn't eternity make life less valuable?

Do animals go around looking for a purpose in life?
No, they just get on with the business of living.

Only man thinks we need a purpose to be happy.
It's a conceit, in a way.
The curse of conscious thought.

The people I love (and it is a very small circle) are plenty of reason for me to live. If that's not enough, I make sure to include some enjoyable events to look forward to.

As someone whop has hit emotional rock bottom the past few months, I can certainly relate to the question. Still, I do take joy in the simple things -- like being outdoors. I can't honestly say I'm loving life, at the moment. But I keep going and striving to build a better future.

I think the 'point of life' is different for everyone. I struggled with suicidal feelings for 32 years before I found my own answer to that question. But it's something each of us has to figure out for ourselves.

If you haven't found your answer - keep looking. If your current status quo isn't giving you a sense of purpose, that's a sign that something needs to change. Even if it's just a change in philosophy, attitude, or spiritual belief.

There are people in difficult circumstances, who find a way to be happy. And there are people with perfect lives, who are miserable. So I tend to think it's more of an internal thing.

Autism certainly adds a huge challenge, in figuring out how to be happy - because what works for most people doesn't necessarily work for us. For autistics, happiness is often in the form of pursuing our special interests, and not so much about having close personal relationships.

And there's a brain chemistry element as well. I'm bipolar, and there are times when I am simply incapable of feeling joy, at all, no matter what I do. And the only thing that will fix it is physically ingesting a substance that will alter my brain chemistry. For me, caffeine usually does the trick, but other people need stronger antidepressants.

I realize I'm stating the obvious here, and this is nothing we haven't all heard a million times before. But I think the point is there are a variety of factors that influence a person's sense of purpose and happiness in life, and sometimes we need to throw out conventional clichés of what makes life meaningful to other people, and instead focus on what makes us feel good. For me, it's focusing on my special interests, and otherwise trying to be a decent and ethical person, but not worrying too much about the fact that I can't form close relationships with anyone.

Sorry for the ramble... I just wanted to say, for those who haven't found their answer yet - keep seeking!

Small things in life make me happy, and even just living makes me happy. As the saying goes, love what you do and do what you love.
^By the way, I love your avatar and username!

My place is good.

I am a spiritual person, but have not been brought of with any religious teaching. I tend to look at scripture as historical documents. There is a church across the road from me. They are nice and sometimes I think of going over to see what it's all about. Maybe listen to a sermon or something.


I am very attached to the Earth and tend to find nature spiritually satisfying.


Damn this self-reflection!


I wish I had more people in my life. But I'm starting a new job on Monday, so I might meet some there.


I'd like to live closer to nature in my future.


I agree.


Me too. My kitties make me happy.

God's Grandeur

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; Bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

- Gerard Manley Hopkins

You can't deny the truth of it.
Animals don't look for a purpose because they know they already have it.
Which goes to show that animals are much smarter than humans

That brings up the interesting question - what is their sense of purpose? To follow their survival instincts, and basically seek food - which stimulates endorphins, and makes them feel good?

Maybe part of our problem is that 'seeking food' is all too easy, and... well, now what?!

Well, didn't you get the memo from the industrial revolution? Your goal in life is to produce and consume more than your neighbor...there is no meaning to life outside that. If you're feeling existential grief it's probably either because you haven't consumed enough or you haven't properly put down the people who consume less than you-- that's where you're supposed to find fulfillment because it shows you're "better" than those people.

^Well, that's ridiculous. I dream of a world where everyone is equal and there are no losers.