What Makes A Life Worth Living? (2021)

What makes a life worth living when the world around you is crumbling? In 2020 the world grinded to a halt when the pandemic hit. Millions of people across the planet had to stop what they were doing and stay at home. Due to this time off work and school, boredom ensued and for many us of we were life thinking; “what makes a life worth living?”

If you were one of the people who had to stop what you were doing then you might have had time to reflect on this question and what you spend your life doing. For me personally, this time to reflect on life meant a lot of time for internal auditing. I spend a great deal of time analysing what I was doing and where I was in life. It taught me that up to that point, my life was pretty much rolling along on momentum. I hadn’t really reflected on what I was doing or what I wanted since I was about seventeen years old.

The last thirteen years had been a time of trying to get on my feet, find a job that paid enough money to live and simply survive in the hopes that one day I could make more money so that I could get all the things I wanted. I reflected on my time working in jobs that I hated just to eat and put a roof over my head. For the past thirteen years I had put on a shirt to turn up at a job I didn’t particularly care for or was passionate about.

A life built on momentum

Of course, there’s no shame in going to a job to pay your bills and rent. It’s what we have to do. I’d even argue most people don’t like their jobs very much and they search for the best paying job, no matter what it is to live the kind of lifestyle they desire the most. When you have a family, you can’t afford to be very picky, you just need money, especially when you’re just starting out in the world.

However, having time off work made me realise that most of my time was spent like a robot, completing jobs just to get paid just to then repeat the pattern. I hadn’t had the time to stop and think about what I really wanted to do or pursue. This pandemic has been awful but it’s also given me and a lot of people time to recalibrate their lives. So, what really makes a life worth living?

Having the time to reflect on myself made me wonder what actually makes a life worth living. When you take money and your job out of the equation, what are you doing with yourself? What are you doing with your time? Who are you? Where do you really want to go?

When I look at the people in my life in their forties, fifties and even sixties that have years of work under their belts, many of them are still deeply unsatisfied with what they do or out right hate it. Did they just get swept up in the momentum of their lives or were they victims of circumstances?

What really makes a life worth living?

For at least the past decade I’ve had the feeling of needing to catch up and find that thing that would make me feel fulfilled – something that would be worth my time doing that would make me feel satisfied, instead of bouncing around with endless pursuits.

People

Before anything else, the people in your life like your family come first. When your life gets put on pause for an extended period of time like it has been, you appreciate the people in your life more. There would be nothing worse then being lonely in a situation like we’re currently in. When you’re not spending hours at work providing for your family, you’re at home with them. This pandemic has meant that I have been able to spend much more time with my family then I would have done. I won’t lie and say it’s always easy to be crammed indoors with family, arguments happen but you’d rather they were there than not.

Little things

It’s a cliché but this past year has proven it true. When you’re stuck at home looking at the same four walls, you begin to appreciate the small things a lot more. Small things like fresh coffee in the morning, fresh air to breathe, clean clothes to wear, things to eat and something to watch or play. These are the things I take for granted during a normal years but when you strip everything back, they’re the most important things to have to keep you sane.

Inner Purpose

Finding your purpose is a cheesy idea I’ll admit. In ‘normal times’ people are too busy trying to make a living to ‘find their purpose’. However, when you take work away what are you left with to do? I often liken this idea to someone who is retired. If you didn’t have to spend hours at work, what would you spend your time doing? There’s only so many shows to watch or games to play. What would you fill your time doing? This is a difficult question for a lot of people. If you didn’t nothing then you’d go mad.

Instead of using the term ‘finding your purpose’ I would rather say hobbies or indulging more in what you naturally are pulled to want to do whether it’s writing songs, writing books, crafts, drawing, sewing, wood work etc – anything creative in nature you would want to do if you had the chance or time. These hobbies often seem unimportant in the grand scheme of life but they can give you a sense of purpose and achievement that I think is underrated.

For me, I’d be doing the things I naturally gravitate towards like writing and drawing. This pandemic has given me the chance to double down on a lot of that writing more articles and creating more colouring pages, for example. This is why I think it’s important to indulge your hobbies even if you can for a few minutes a day.

There’s certain things we put off because we don’t have time and we’re bogged down with so much responsibility usually. Sometimes we also think that we aren’t good enough to do the things we’re interested in.

Providing they’re healthy and productive, I think giving time to your hobbies and creative desires (no matter how weird they are) is important to making your life worth living.

Inner fulfilment over external identity

How often do you meet people who create a character or tie their self worth to what they do for a living? Those people don’t know where to turn or what to do with themselves when they can’t work anymore. So often I’ve seen people judge their own self worth on how much money they make doing something they hate. Money will obviously only bring a quick thrill but what about the rest of your time? How will you scratch that itch when you know you want to do something and you end up having the time?

I think doing what you naturally gravitate towards makes a life worth living and allowing yourself to get stuck in, even if it’s your job that makes you feel satisfied.

What do you think makes a life worth living? Leave your comment below.