Yes, life is hard.
Yes, life is unfair.
Yes, life seems like it can sometimes be totally unbearable.
But life is also beautiful and, guess what? We only get shot.
So we might as well make the best of it.
What makes you happy to be alive?
Here’s what AskReddit users had to say.
1. The good stuff!
“Maaaan, all the good in this world. Joking around and laughing with your friends untill you can’t breathe anymore. A random dog running up to you to sniff your butt. Getting your first kiss.
The smells from bakeries when you head out in the morning. Staring at the moon late at night knowing there’s someone out there doing the same. Hugging your parents after not seeing them for a while. Cuddling with you SO after you did the beep peep skadidly doo.
A stranger’s baby smiling at you when you’re waiting for a bus. The taste of the watermelon on a hot summer day and laying on the couch under a blanket watching the flames in the fireplace on a cold winter evening.
Listening to the music in your bed on a Friday night knowing you don’t have to set up an alarm for tomorrow. Texting your crush late late at night both of you being deadass tired but neither one wanting it to stop. The feeling of accomplishment when you finally learn to tie your shoes yourself.
When you finally reach the bathroom after having to pee really bad. Telling a joke and the whole group of people laughs. Reading a book at the seaside while the sun unbeknownst to you slowly burns in a dick a sibling drew on your back with the sunscreen.
Finally beating a game you’ve been playing for weeks. Making a meme yourself and thousands of strangers on reddit like it too. When you inconsistently water your cactus but the cactus is just fine with it and it blooms to thank you and you didn’t even know cactuses can bloom.
When you’re really tired after a workout and your muscles are sore the next day but hey you know you did something good for yourself. Starving yourself because you know grandma is going to cook your favorite meal and you HAVE to eat it all.”
2. Little things.
“The amount of beauty in the world that we lived in.
Tonight, after a long day of dealing with stuff thay nobody should ever have to go through, I looked up whike walking to my car in the parkinglot at the black night sky, and saw dozens of brightly lit stars shining down at me.
It was an amazing sight, and made me think that light, even though it took it millions to billions of years, can still reach me.
It’s little things like that which helps keep me going.”
3. The future.
“I live for the future.
I love to observe what goes on around me and predict what may happen based on those observations. That is also how I view my personal life, and I love to see how I grow and develop with each interaction and event in my life.
Cheers!”
4. Honor those who are gone.
“My parents are both gone and my best friend who is a dog is also gone, all way too soon.
I find that living life with positivity honors them and the years they missed out on.
I now have two girls that help every moment to fill that void.
Stay positive.”
5. Learned how to manage.
“I attempted suicide as a teenager.
As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned coping skills and how to better manage stress in my life. Today I am married to my best friend, have three amazing kids, a career that I enjoy, and friends that I know I can count on.”
6. Limited time.
“The thought that you can’t go back keeps me here.
You only have a limited time to enjoy everything you can, and you have to use it wisely. The fact that it will all end makes the here and now sweeter.
You have to enjoy things while you can.”
7. You’re in charge.
“As long as you’re alive, you have control. Even if you’re a prisoner on death row, you still get to decide to stand up or sit down. You still get to think.
If you’re dead, that’s all over. Every version of the afterlife I’m aware of removes all autonomy and you become a slave of either the god or the underworld. And if there is no afterlife, then I guess you just kinda cease to exist.
Either way, no more autonomy, so ending it all because you feel like you’ve lost control over your life or have nothing to live for doesn’t make logical sense, because even a 0.1% chance of regaining some sense of autonomy is better than no chance at all.”
8. It’s worth it.
“There’s always a reason to live, even though it may not always be obvious.
For example, if my time ended on this world right now, I would miss out on so much. I couldn’t eat White Castle again, watch Amphibia season 2, witness 4/20/2069, or go to more Rubik’s Cube competitions. Life isn’t always easy, but there is something that will always motivate me and let me know that it’s all worth it.
I cannot wait to experience the future and all the beauty and pain it holds.”
9. This. Right here.
“The possibilities of how to create each day are endless, the joy that can be had in every moment is limitless, the miracle of living is awesome and wonderful.
I’m grateful to be a part of it.”
10. A big world out there.
“Why not? The world is so big and is waiting to be discovered!
Why be sad when you’re one of hundreds of millions and more sperm cells to be lucky to be alive. There are plenty of people, plenty of science, culture and undiscovered stuff.
By living in the 21st century the medicine has gotten far better than anytime before. Live life to the fullest and regret nothing because the youth is the chance to actually LIVE and do a lot of things, try new other stuff, make mistakes and troubles. Live life when young so you can remember good ol’ days when you get older.
Have something to tell your children and grandchildren one day!”
11. Keep on truckin’.
“Life sucks at times, but not always.
I keep reminding myself that life can get better but death is so final and it may suck more than life so that’s a pretty big gamble might as well keep on truckin.”
12. A miracle.
“Just to get to be a part of life is so amazing. I think people take for granted what a miracle we are and all that has gone into getting us as far as we’ve gotten.
If you even just look at a wooden chair there’s probably hundreds of inventions that went into it. From the tools that ultimately built it, to the very materials and coatings used in both the chair and everything else involved in its construction you’ll see thousands of years worth of advancement that no other species known in all of existence has done.
That’s just for a basic chair, the device you posted this from represents probably involves millions of brand new ideas that people who came before you thought up to make things better for us.
We get to be part of, and even contribute to, such an amazing thing as humans, and we’ve done it in such a short time too, the oldest human fossil is what, about 50k years old? If you look at our planet, our universe, that’s so incredibly short, and we’ve already basically conquered our own planet with our eyes toward space.
I guess it’s difficult to explain but just getting the chance to be a part of such a miracle has overwhelmed me since for a long time.”
13. The senses.
“I live to get completely lost in my senses.
We are so lucky to be able to even see, hear, smell, touch, or taste. We could just not exist and never experience anything but we are somehow here on this planet. I love starring at trees, clouds, mountains, and stars.
There’s something special about becoming just a witness instead of conceptualizing and judging.”
14. It’s a gift.
“Everything is just so wild, awesome, this whole society feels like a gift.
This is hard to put in words, but looking at any singular object fills me with a sense there’s so much of things to see/know/feel. So many things to BE. I’m privileged as fuck and the least I could do is be grateful to live in here in the West.
Also I wanna see a Dyson sphere sunrise, I wanna live on Mars. I wanna see my kids grow up on the Moon daring one another to steal the Andy Warhol penis painting from the Apollo 11 landing site.”
15. Not done yet.
“I was in a bad car accident that should have left me dead.
I like to think my job isn’t done just yet.”
16. To be human.
“To make mistakes. To err. To learn. To experience. To laugh, and to love. To be very much human. To look forward to tomorrow, a brighter day, with endless hope. To see another smile, feel the brush of wind, and smell freshly-cut grass. To hold a child up high, and hope the same for it.
But also to cry, to despair and to lose hope. To be heartbroken, gutted and lost. To feel no end to the darkness, and become despondent. To be blind in a world without light, without a guide and without direction. To feel completely helpless.
And then to rise once more, with empathy, love, cadre and affection from close family and friends. To find direction once more, to forgive and forget, and crucially, to offer a hand to anyone in a plight similar.
To Be Utterly Human.”
Now we want to hear from you about what makes you happy in life!
Talk to us in the comments!
Thanks and have a great day!
