Discussion Is it worth living a miserable life?

[Darkover]

Being miserable is a constant state of negativity with moments of despair. It is a deep relentless emotional pain along with long term grief that never gets resolved.
unhappy or depressed; wretched. causing misery, discomfort, etc. a miserable life.

 

[Misanthrope0000]

No, I'm tired

 

[mythofsisyphus]

I'm not sure it's so black and white. I think what makes it hard to judge is that no matter how bad it feels right now, we don't know if the 'misery' is gonna last forever or if there's things that might help improve it. But yeah, if we could see into the future and knew our lives would always be miserable, then I don't see much value in that. But we can't do that, so at what point do we say "okay, this misery isn't going to end?". I guess once we've tried all we can.

 

[Darkover]

I'm not sure it's so black and white. I think what makes it hard to judge is that no matter how bad it feels right now, we don't know if the 'misery' is gonna last forever or if there's things that might help improve it. But yeah, if we could see into the future and knew our lives would always be miserable, then I don't see much value in that. But we can't do that, so at what point do we say "okay, this misery isn't going to end?". I guess once we've tried all we can.

in my case i've put up with being miserable for 20 years now 38 years old i think it safe to say that my miserable life was never worth living

 

[LunarLight]

Well, if it's miserable… then of course no, it is not worth living.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

I would say no but what is actually a miserable life? That largely depends on our own POV.

 

[Forever Sleep]

In general or, personally? Some people who are unhappy may not be suicidal. It's not for me to decide whether another person's life is worth living. That's up to them. For me- probably not. Unless there's some hope and vaguely realistic prospect of things getting better.

 

[Darkover]

I would say no but what is actually a miserable life? That largely depends on our own POV.

You're right; the concept of a "miserable life" is deeply subjective and influenced by individual perspectives and values. What's miserable for one person might not be for someone else, depending on factors like resilience, expectations, and personal experiences.

In general or, personally? Some people who are unhappy may not be suicidal. It's not for me to decide whether another person's life is worth living. That's up to them. For me- probably not. Unless there's some hope and vaguely realistic prospect of things getting better.

You're right that only individuals can truly gauge the worth of their own lives., i guess in general terms if your life is more miserable than pleasurable then it could be considered not worth living through.

 

[HopingOnaMiracle]

As long as there is hope for recovery it is. I don't want to hurt my friends and family by killing myself.

 

[Alexei_Kirillov]

You're right that only individuals can truly gauge the worth of their own lives., i guess in general terms if your life is more miserable than pleasurable then it could be considered not worth living through.

Some people have such rich sources of meaning in their lives that they would deem their life worth living even under persistently miserable conditions. Think of Victor Frankl during the Holocaust.

 

[ijustwishtodie]

Obviously not. Why would anybody want to live a miserable life!? Humans are so strange to me

 

[finallydone]

no of course, and no offense but i wonder who's the masochist that said yes

 

[İnilerim]

I'd never dare to judge the worth of someone else's life, but for me personally, the answer is a decisive no. If you *wanted to make it feel worth*, I hear religion has plenty of cope-toolboxes to make it feel worth though. But I'd rather be miserable than deluded.

 

[HopingOnaMiracle]

no of course, and no offense but i wonder who's the masochist that said yes

I was. Assuming 'no' means to ctb. I'm still alive and still have hope for my condition to improve. Even after all that I've been through, my situation only worsening. I still don't want to kill myself yet.

 

[-nobodyknows-]

I don't know; I certainly wouldn't want to, but if I felt there was some reason for doing so I think it would help me to find a way to keep going

 

[Reflection]

Depends on the person and situation.

 

[wheredidyouleaseme]

i feel inherently life has value but sometimes it isn't clear what it is - i feel like i have put up with a lot of misery, and not really asked myself, why, or if that was necessary, or right. soe cultures are trained to put up with a lot, to stay tough and not even question if you are happy - just to keep moving. i wish i knew how to protect myself from pain and care if my life is miserable, but i do feel sometimes, like i keep going just for a sliver of hope, and not always tune it to my feelings of happiness or lack therof in the present.
we are such goal oriented creatures, too, and sometimes a notion of happiness over the horizon is enough to keep going.

 

[idelttoilfsadness21]

Obviously not. Why would anybody want to live a miserable life!? Humans are so strange to me

I swear, this world makes no sense to me, and I am very aware of the need of self respect but to that degree would be like denial to one's self and destroying their happiness the more they choose to stay in an environment that will change them for the worse…

You're right; the concept of a "miserable life" is deeply subjective and influenced by individual perspectives and values. What's miserable for one person might not be for someone else, depending on factors like resilience, expectations, and personal experiences.

You're right that only individuals can truly gauge the worth of their own lives., i guess in general terms if your life is more miserable than pleasurable then it could be considered not worth living through.

I already knew this one and why it is often not influenced for someone to ctb under the wrong influences and circumstances, but if they realize their mentally is changing and blame everything on someone for their actions, they basically are seemingly aware that they are in misery and do nothing about it to change it and become more subjectively brainwashed by what they have been told their entire lives equally becoming more damaging to those in the process who equally done nothing wrong to them. Think of the many people who's re chasing wealth in this manner and so many others who choose to put others down to get what they want… there isn't true happiness there but misery, and it's not to say they should ctb, but what good is it to live like that without you realizing you are being a victim in the process while creating more victims? And this is where we have generational curses because people bring children into this world while brainwashing them the behavior is normal and someone had to end it by breaking the curse by living the impossible that has never been done or by establishing their own values in ending it via anyway they know how, which would equally be ctb too, in this case.

 

[divinemistress36]

No but other people think our lives are worth living despite how miserable we are. It depends on brain chemistry I have stroke friends worse off than me like ones in wheelchairs, feeding tubes, and trachs who still want to keep going but they have kids and husbands so Im sure thats why. People find meaning in suffering Im not one of them

 

[L'absent]

Life is a series of biological processes without intrinsic meaning. There is no objective criterion to determine whether living a "miserable" life is worthwhile. The perceived value or utility of existence is entirely subjective. It comes down to a functional assessment: if the balance of perceived costs and benefits fails to meet personal thresholds, the decision to end life is a personal evaluation, devoid of relevant external judgments.

 

[human909]

I chose no because what point is there if we just there suffering in pain and we will gain nothing from it? I believe in life you get to decide if you want to end your life because you're in pain.

 

[wheredidyouleaseme]

i agree, there does some to be a will to live and continue through trauma in some people, regardless of situation
i've seen people devestated by "small" things and survive well large things, and feel their lives are meaningful.
personally my life felt more meaningful and less miserable when i had less money and less comfortable a life
will to life can come from the smallest thing but if it's meaningful to you it's enough.

many people report living for their pets which i don't understand, but who's to judge

 

[SoulWhisperer]

I mean, unless someone has a goal or a mission to accomplish and is willing to go on then it'd have a point. Otherwise it'd be pointless imo. Wasn't the point of life to achieve happiness or something- If someone is eternally miserable I doubt it'd be a life worth living.

 

[isthisit?]

we make our own future. our lives can be changed to not be miserable