"Once we recognize that our experience of the out-there is a creative, artistic one, there is more to be gained than we have lost."

                                                                      - J.F.T. Bugental

Albert Camus said many people die because they judge that life is NOT worth living.  And others paradoxically get killed for the ideas or illusions that give them a reason for living.  What is called a reason for living is also an excellent reason for dying.  

Therefore, Camus concluded that the meaning of life is the most urgent of questions.   

For James Bugental, "many people who come to psychotherapy are not 'sick' or 'emotionally disturbed,' but are instead concerned that their lives are less meaningful than they sense is potential to them.  They come to therapy to find help in attaining greater realization of their being as individuals."

Is Life Worth Living?

What makes life worth living?  What are those things really worth living for?

Nietzsche declared, "the meaninglessness of suffering, not suffering itself, was the curse that lay over mankind."

But if there is no meaning to all this pain and suffering in the world, then what is the point to living?

If it is all meaningless suffering, then wouldn't it be illogical or irrational to continue on?

Surviving for what?

Why do anything at all?

We would be justified in ending our lives, and maybe we should. 

Meaningless suffering is NOT worth living.

But then if there is any meaning at all, then there must be meaning in our pain and suffering.

Because, "He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."

And as Viktor Frankl said, if there is a meaning, it is an unconditional meaning, and there is no reason to doubt the meaning of even the most miserable life.  Every life, in every situation, and to the last breath, has a meaning.

Yes To Life!

Our first and last choice is to say YES To Life! 

Our lives exist, the Greeks believed, in order that we may complete an unfinished task and it is by that task that our lives are given meaning.

Life is never lacking a meaning, meaning is always present, and life has meaning under all circumstances. But unless we use the opportunity to fulfill the meaning in any situation, it will pass and be gone forever.

As Nietzsche said, and for the ancient Greeks who loved life so passionately, we must redeem ourselves with the SACRED YES TO LIFE expressed through Amor Fati!

"The Mass of Men Lead Lives of Quiet Desperation"

- Henry David Thoreau

William is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC),

Logotherapy and Existential Analysis

  certified in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and a trained Solution-Focused Brief Therapist