When Life Hurts: What Makes It Worth Living?

I have been thinking about this for a long time: what makes a life worth living?

When life brings us happiness, we rarely question it. But when things fall apart, when pain becomes inevitable, when we are forced to climb steep and winding paths… that is when this question resurfaces, again and again. What is the reason that makes all these struggles worth enduring? What makes continuing to live valuable, despite the pain?

For many years, whenever I find myself alone with my thoughts, this question has kept me company. If the answer were easy, I suppose it wouldn’t have occupied me for so long. And I know that from time to time, this question knocks on all of our doors. It is deeply familiar, deeply human.

I suppose Viktor Frankl, the psychiatrist I deeply respect, is right. The answer to this question must lie in “meaning”—in each of us discovering the unique meaning of our own lives. In his seminal book Man’s Search for Meaning, Frankl speaks of different ways to find meaning: creating a work or accomplishing a task, living ethical values such as goodness and integrity, loving another human being, and adopting an attitude toward unavoidable suffering. He also emphasizes that this meaning is unique for each person, and that finding it is ultimately our own responsibility.

The journey of finding meaning in life does not seem easy. Yet discovering that meaning can open the door to an entirely new experience of living. Then, our suffering—no matter the cost—may become worth overcoming. The obstacles we encounter may make walking that path more valuable than ever. Even the deepest darkness may not be able to kill our courage. Even the longest nights may not extinguish our hope that the sun will rise again. And perhaps most importantly, it may become possible to build an unshakable bond between life and ourselves.

Today, this piece came straight from my heart. With the hope that it might gently hold the hand of someone who is searching for meaning.

I wish that, when the time is right, your own unique meaning finds you—and illuminates everything that belongs to your life.