Is life worth living? I sure think so, but the journey to that answer is not necessarily an easy one given the way the world works. I used to think that we should just be giving, and focusing on others and to not be selfish, or we will end up living like Ebeneazer Scrooge, alone and unhappy filled with remorse and regret. That kind of life doesn’t sound like fun, but focusing just purely on others can lead to the same trap. Balance is the key. Religion teaches us to love your neighbor as yourself, but you can’t do that properly if you don’t love yourself. This modern world we are living in is a very selfish, self-centered, consumerist society and it is pointed out to be our biggest problem and a burden for most people, because wealth, even on a societal level decays things, yet strange as it may be, can be a good thing if we focus on loving ourselves and taking care of ourselves.
I forget where I heard this quote, I think it was Jordan Peterson, who said that imagine what your life would be like if you took care of yourself like somebody you actually cared about. That is a powerful one. Really imagine taking care of yourself like you really cared about yourself. Life would be so much different. Relationships with other people, drugs, alcohol, video games, working out, music, all are external stimuli that are wonderful, but can also be a vice if you let them, if you let them drown out the notion of self-hatred. Focusing on work or a passion is a lot better sounding than being addicted to a drug or being drunk all the time, but it still only puts the problem off instead of healing the problem that plagues all of us: self-love. Still though the whole point is waking up everyday and enjoying being alive, enjoying being you and loving yourself for being alive.
Buddhism teaches that life is suffering and that there is a way to transcend that suffering. Part of life is for each of us to figure that out on our own, but I do believe that inner peace can be obtained by everyone including the 21 century being. Meditation on its own is a positive thing and highly recommended. Still though, learning to like yourself is one of the keys to it. We all have those demons, that suffering, we all have it and we can all transcend it. Some of the keys to this kind of transcendence I believe are: self-love, mindfulness, and letting go of the past. Those last two go hand in hand, but still it is extremely difficult at first. Whatever you have done, just remember someone has done something worse, and someone has done something better(that is no excuse to commit evil deeds. Be good). We are all in between those two people, and there is no need to suffer about it. Seek forgiveness, apologize to anybody you wronged, and make it right if need be, learn the lesson, and let go. You’re a living being and deserve a good life.
Religion is not a popular topic these days. Even if God doesn’t exist, the probability of intelligent life evolving like we did is so tiny, is it a blessing or a curse? Is the glass half empty or half full? Life is what you make of it. I hope you can find peace. If it feels like you can’t, like it is impossible, if you think you were just meant to suffer, well you are wrong. It is up to you to decide and you can make it happen. It is all part of living.