How to Make Life Worth Living

The Transient Nature of Life

Life is transient. Death is a certainty that awaits all. There are many descriptions about the transient nature of life. Verses 15 to 18 of chapter 103 of the book of the Psalms in the Bible state the following:

“The lives of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.

The philosopher in the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible expresses a similar view of life. He reflected deeply on how short and contradictory human life is with its mysterious injustices and frustrations and concluded that life is useless. Verses 2 to 5 and verse 14 of chapter 1 of Ecclesiastes state the following:

“It is useless, useless, said the Philosopher. Life is useless, all useless. You spend your life working, labouring, and what do you have to show for it? Generations come and generations go, but the world stays just the same. …………. I have seen everything done in this world, and I tell you, it is all useless. It is like chasing the wind.”

Similarly, Pedro Calderon de la Barca, a Spanish dramatist, in his play “Life is a Dream”, describes life as follows:

“What is this life? A frenzy, an illusion,

A shadow, a delirium, a fiction

The greatest good’s but little. and this life

Is but a dream, and dreams are only dreams.”

All these descriptions project a pessimistic view of life. If life is so transient and useless and can be compared to an exercise in futility, like chasing the wind, then is there a purpose to life? Should we just go through the monotonous motions of life, waking up and sleeping and wait patiently till we die?

Is Just Surviving Life the Answer?

Given the transient nature of life, it is tempting to aim to just survive, without any definite goals or aspirations, and to just have a passionless, lacklustre existence. We may consider living a life without any purpose, knowing that at the end, death is inevitable. However, when this happens, we may be alive but very much lifeless and dead. Several writers caution us against this attitude.

Henry David Thoreau, the American naturalist, essayist, poet and philosopher cautions us as follows:

“Don’t be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin!”

Peter Sellers, the English actor and comedian, expresses a similar sentiment as follows:

“You have to live before you die or you’ll die before you live.”

In the same vein, William Ross Wallace, the American poet, states as follows:

“Every man dies – Not every man really lives.”

From the above, the option of just surviving life does not appear to be the answer as it results in us not really living life, or in us being alive but dead.

To Make a Mark on Society

Rather than just surviving life, we should strive to make a mark on society, in order to live a worthwhile life. Our lives on this earth, however short, must count for something. We owe it to our fellow humans to leave this world a better place than as we found it. As such, the world should be all the better because we passed through it.

To this end, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the American writer, advises us to be active and purposeful. He counsels us to leave our footprints on the sands of time, which may encourage our fellow humans. Extracts from his poem, “A Psalm of Life”, are as follows:

“Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.

……….

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labour and to wait.”

The poem above encourages us to make the most of life and to leave a legacy after our death.

History also abounds with examples of people who have made their mark on society, either through their inventions, creativity, sacrifice or service. Thomas Edison is credited with inventing the early version of the electric light bulb which had a widespread impact on the modern industrialised world. In like manner, Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot created the first steam-powered automobile capable of human transportation. Furthermore, Charles Babbage conceived the idea of the first automatic digital computer. All these inventions have changed the world and made it a better place.

In a similar fashion, Bob Marley, the Jamaican singer, musician and songwriter, was considered a global symbol of Jamaican music, culture and identity. He was outspoken in his support for democratic social reforms. It is noted that he made a mark on society as observed from the final funeral eulogy to him by the Jamaican Prime Minister, Edward Seaga, who described Bob Marley as follows:

“His voice was an omnipresent cry in our electronic world…… He was an experience which left an indelible imprint with each encounter. Such a man cannot be erased from the mind. He is part of the collective consciousness of the nation.”

Similarly, others like Harriet Tubman, the American abolitionist and social activist, through their sacrifice, made their mark on society. Although born into chattel slavery, Ms. Tubman escaped and made approximately thirteen missions to rescue approximately seventy similarly enslaved people. She did this by using the network of anti-slavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.

Correspondingly, Mother Teresa, the Albanian-Indian nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity, made her mark on society through her service to mankind, helping the poorest of the poor.

Humility and a Higher Calling

In striving to make a mark on society and to leave the world a better place, we should also be humble. To be great, we must be ready to serve others selflessly. Verses 11 and 12 of chapter 23 of the book of Matthew in the Bible state as follows:

“The greatest one among you must be your servant. Whoever makes himself great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be made great.”

The inspiration of a higher calling also helps us to make sense of our lives and to find our purpose in life. If we focus on serving the Lord rather than on the ingratitude of human beings, the transient nature of life, the injustices and frustrations in the world and the certainty of death, we will find true fulfilment. Verse 23 of chapter 3 of the book of Colossians in the Bible advises us as follows:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for human beings.”

Thus, if we adopt this attitude towards life, it will help us to be purposeful and have a zeal for living, knowing we are engaged in every activity for the Lord, our Maker. We will therefore not have a monotonous, passionlesss, lifeless existence, going through the daily motions without any drive and waiting fatalistically for death. We will strive to make our mark on society, to leave our footprints on the sands of time, to help our fellow man, to leave the world a better place than as we found it.

Life, then, will be worth living!

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