The Value of Your Life

The value of life, the value of your life, is one that will be questioned in variables and determined by the abundance of self help books with anonymous authors who will tell you a few basic things. These things, as I have learned through the many books “gifted” to me or sent to me in depressive episodes are this;

A life worth living, a life worth value, consists of:

• A deeply engaged social life.
• A job that pays high and treats you well.
• A deep connection and a non wavering relationship with family members.
• Extroversion and all it’s many gifts.
• Love and fear of the Lord
• A healthy diet and a light weight.
• A loving heterosexual, romantic partner (unless you have Borderline Personality Disorder, then you should stay away from romantic or non-romantic attachments for the safety of others)
• An adult attitude and an “adult” handling of emotions.

But what these books, written by people cloaked in anonymity, seem to deny the one true fact of life and the worth. It’s individualized. It is a concept that has been pressed on to paper and into the minds of our elders that a life worth value must meet the conditions of a strict check list, and this is simply untrue.

What these books (and beings) seem to be ignorant of is the idea that life and living differentiates between each being. They willingly ignore deep internal worlds or ideas, silence among those who scream, and the handling of emotions as they come with honesty and refusal of repression.

A stagnant, still life is still a the end of the day, a life. A vibrant loud life is of value. A quiet, patient and solitary life is of value as well.

This idea of course is one that is up for debate by many philosophers and common folk alike. But how do we determine the value of a life that is not ours when we are internally biased to ourselves and our own psychology? My life may very well not be worth a damn thing to another, but my life is worth a whole lot to me. If all I do in a day is wake up and go back to sleep, that is worth something. It is worth something because I am alive.

Your life holds tremendous value. If you wake, you breathe, you ramble to yourself in an aggravated rage, you sob to sleep, if you smile when you amuse yourself, if you stay alone and locked away afraid of the outside; It’s okay. Your value, your self worth, can never be measured by printed words. Even if you do not value your life, it’s okay.  They are to be measured individually and internally and by the only person who matters; Yourself.