this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2024
52 points (80.2% liked)

Asklemmy

44148 readers
1898 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy πŸ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

The reason I choose to continue living is that I only have one chance to inhabit a mortal body in this world so I’d like to see it through for as long as I can. What’s yours?

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] salarua@sopuli.xyz 43 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] Kwakigra@beehaw.org 7 points 6 months ago

Cheers, mate.

[–] nossaquesapao@lemmy.eco.br 42 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I don't choose. To continue living is just the default, and time keeps passing, so I'm alive by inaction...

[–] Kwakigra@beehaw.org 6 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Choosing the default is still a choice. Why is the default better than the alternative in your opinion? Please don't answer that question or even consider it unless you already have an answer. I would rather not have to ask this myself to be honest.

[–] nossaquesapao@lemmy.eco.br 9 points 6 months ago

I don't have a full answer, so I won't try to answer it right now, but I will surely think about it during the next days.

[–] sneezycat@sopuli.xyz 7 points 6 months ago

I'd argue "choosing the default" is not what's going on here. If you don't have mental health issues, you don't think that much about living/not living, it just is what it is.

It's be like saying I'm choosing not to listen to 80s Korean funk, or choosing not to go ski to the Himalaya. I literally don't care, and I haven't chosen "not to", because I literally haven't given it any thought.

Actually, 80s Korean funk sounds rad, I should give it a listen.

[–] DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org 28 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I want to know what happens

[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 7 points 6 months ago

No spoilers though!

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Drusas@kbin.run 16 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] Kwakigra@beehaw.org 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I'll be getting a dog soon. Thanks for this, it's too easy to forget how cool dogs are when you don't have one.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 14 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I want to see what comes next.

We live in interesting times!

[–] Kwakigra@beehaw.org 5 points 6 months ago

This is actually my primary motivation. I have some morbid curiosity about what we're going to do to ourselves next.

[–] megane_kun@lemm.ee 13 points 6 months ago

Because why not? I'm alive by default, and I'm too lazy to change that.

[–] Vaggumon@lemm.ee 11 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] Kwakigra@beehaw.org 5 points 6 months ago

I'm here too and in my case I'm damn sure it's something other than cowardice. I know I'd sacrifice myself in less than a second given the opportunity and I even know how I would, but I haven't. There's a reason we're still around even if we don't know it consciously.

[–] JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee 10 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I have a chance, albeit a very small one, to make the world a place other people don't want to exit if I'm alive. Can't do that if I'm dead. But I would probably want to be euthanised if I started living a painful or disabled life.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] wesker@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] Kwakigra@beehaw.org 5 points 6 months ago

I'm not sure whether I'm too stupid one way or the other, but at least I know I'm stupid.

[–] FookReddit69@lemm.ee 10 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

If I had a turn off button on my back like a toy I would had pushed it long ago...

Suicide is too painful. That's it. Also my mom's food still nice.

[–] Hazzia@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 6 months ago

The most effective ways to die sound painful, and even for the "painless" ones, if you fuck it up you either suffer way too long or get slapped with insane medical debt and locked up in a loony bin for a ehile (usa). While I don't fear death itself or have a strong emotional attachment to the life I'm living right now, my life's in no way bad, so it's still an easy choice for me.

[–] PetroGuy@lemmy.ca 10 points 6 months ago (2 children)

sunk cost fallacy. i’m in too deep to stop now. really, this is how i manage everything. once the smallest amount of time has been invested in something there’s no stopping til i see it through.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] shinigamiookamiryuu@lemm.ee 10 points 6 months ago

I did not choose the living life, the living life chose me.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 10 points 6 months ago

Because for all the suffering and horrific ugliness, there is still beauty and joy. The smile of a neighbor, the red-headed woodpeckers and their mates that visit, the stray cat that hangs out, my adult child's "I love you," and sharing of joys and challenges. My fur baby's cuddles, my dear friends' messages from afar. A walk at dusk in summers, sunsets and sunrises, the sound of rain and thunder, the call of tree frogs, watching deer walk and rabbits and squirrel play. A cool breeze, the taste of water, a berry, home made relish from my neighbors, laughing, crying, and emotions that can't be articulated but explored. Being at peace with myself.

[–] Colour_me_triggered@lemm.ee 8 points 6 months ago

I need to set my kids up with a better start than I had.

[–] bestusername@aussie.zone 8 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Can't afford to die; it's like $2700 just to dig the fucking hole!

[–] Kwakigra@beehaw.org 5 points 6 months ago

Thanks for the reminder. I'll make sure they know my body belongs in the trash can (in a few decades).

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] closure1170@beehaw.org 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Death scares the shit out of me.

Plus, I'll get there eventually. No point in rushing.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] crmsnbleyd@sopuli.xyz 7 points 6 months ago

I love my husband and my cats

[–] MxRemy@lemmy.one 7 points 6 months ago

My boss would be really mad if I tried to not come in for that long

[–] Fizz@lemmy.nz 7 points 6 months ago

Life is interesting. Even on the most mundane boring day I can entertain myself in my thoughts. I don't really get extreme mood swings like when I was a teenager. No matter how sad I am it doesn't feel like the world is over. It's enjoyable to exist from the small things like sun shining on my skin to the milestones.

If my life ever changed and I was struggling with no chance of getting back on track I would consider changing my outlook.

[–] hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 6 months ago
  1. this most likely is my only life, unless reincarnation is real
  2. tons of people probably want me dead, so I stay alive to piss them off
  3. I want to see what happens next
  4. I can help to make other people's lives a little bit better
  5. among all the pain and misery, there are lots of good things to enjoy
  6. I'll get there eventually, no need to rush
[–] bizarroland@fedia.io 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Because I will be vindicated and I will have my revenge and, to quote Violent J although I'm not a juggalo, "I'm not gonna die till I get my shit!"

load more comments (1 replies)

My mom couldn't handle that. I also think there is still enough cool things to experience even though the world is going to shit right now.

[–] QuentinCallaghan@sopuli.xyz 6 points 6 months ago

Why wouldn't I? We are living in interesting times.

[–] kyleraykbs@lemmy.ml 6 points 6 months ago (3 children)

I stick around because (like some other people here) I want to live to see or even better help discovery the set of rules that underly the universe, see the stars even if just in photos, see what humanity is capable at its best, create anything that comes to mind, and learn everything I can. If the reason I dont want to live is the world around me (which it is) then I'd rather go out fighting, trying to change things rather than giving up outright (as a sidenote I wish someone created a place for people like this to meet and converse I see y'all scattered around the place but I can't find a singular congregation spot). I mean I have what could either be classified as very well thought out delusions of grandeur or long term plans for a sort of immortality and if there's the slimmest chance I can achieve that then I'm gonna shoot for it, and if I die trying then I get to die knowing I contributed to science in some hopefully big ways. So in summary I live to spite the world we live in and for the admittedly astronomically low chance I achieve my insane goal as the reasons for not living all relate to not having enough time and being restrained to a material world. Writing it out loud it's quite convoluted.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] JayDee@lemmy.ml 6 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I've got alot of people I've promised that I won't off myself. Those promises were mainly what got me through the dark times.

I set up a plan a while back now. Once I hit an age where I feel pain all the time, I'll start evaluating whether I'm getting enough enjoyment out of life to continue. If I decide it's time, I start getting my affairs in order. Getting closure with folks, having some good final talks with folks, giving the advice I can, documenting that I know that I haven't documented yet, distributing my things, etc.

At the end of it, if I still feel like going, I'll get my N2 tank and respirator and find a nice place to sit.

I've given myself 30 years for my first raincheck. Might push it up if things get real bad, but it's pretty alright ATM so I don't think I will RN.

[–] Achyu@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Wanting to live is the default for most, even before we become fully aware of ourselves.

The question is, what would make you choose not to?

[–] Kwakigra@beehaw.org 4 points 6 months ago

I've always felt that my note would make anyone who read it glad that they no longer have to deal with someone as indignant and sanctimonious as I am. The fact that most would react to need this way is part of my reasoning against continuing in this world, but in spite of the failings of my species I like other people regardless whether they're safe or not. I'd like to see what happens for my personal interest, but I completely understand anyone who wouldn't be able to tolerate this life at all.

[–] Alice@beehaw.org 5 points 6 months ago

My niece is starting to get old enough that, even if I leave a note asking them to tell her I was in an accident, I think she'd catch on. We're not super close but I'm not sure what it does to a kid's psych to learn people in their family can do that. I have VERY strong feelings about people who refuse to protect children, so unfortunately I'm here for a while.

[–] Marty_TF@lemmy.zip 5 points 6 months ago

im a garden and landscape builder and my greatest pleasure in life is seeing things grow and progress.

a few months ago I connected with a group of incredibly nice people and seeing these people grow every day of their life, bringing in new people and change with them, that is my lifeline right now.

if I was to reincarnate, please let me be a hobbit in the 4th age.

[–] flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz 5 points 6 months ago

I don't have an alternative. If i die I will stop existing. And despite all the pain I'm living through it's all caused by the desire to live.

It's sometimes superficially tempting but dying would not solve any of my problems. You can't solve wrong choices in life by stopping to exist. It's just logically contradictory.

[–] Alsjemenou@lemy.nl 5 points 6 months ago

Life is fucking amazing. The intricacy of it all is just so incredibly deep, a neverending pool of knowledge and mysteries to explore. And then there also is a thing called creativity. The absolutely stunning, interesting, weird, crazy, lovely stuff around us is an endless adventure. And on top of that there is love, being able to care and support others is deeply rewarding.

I absolutely do not fear death and do not care about pain. I really just enjoy it here, so i avoid it as best i can. I eat healthy, active lifestyle, taking care of my psychological needs. I hope to live for another 100 years!

[–] Hadriscus@lemm.ee 5 points 6 months ago
[–] ssm@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 6 months ago

Have to wait for Hunter X Hunter to finish, or for the author to die. Then I can die.

[–] electro1@infosec.pub 4 points 6 months ago

By default life is meaningless, and I wanna make it meaningful

[–] The_Che_Banana@beehaw.org 4 points 6 months ago

Because I cannot believe that non existence is the default, and that what we are doing now is but a blip...so I'm going to see where this blip takes me.

[–] DashboTreeFrog@discuss.online 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Bad times tend to pass. I find myself forgetting in the moment sometimes and yeah, life is frequently enjoyable in lots of different ways, so I try to remember that.

load more comments (1 replies)

what else ya gonna do? passes the time.

[–] BevelGear@beehaw.org 4 points 6 months ago

Because my mom wants me to.

load more comments
view more: next β€Ί