Life is Good

I must say, I was a bit surprised it was taken so quickly. But then again, I am not so surprised. It seems there are few worthy debates to be challenged of late. You argue that we live to toil, toil to live, and all for no reason. I say that despite this, we can enjoy our toils. They do not always have to be a thing of loathing. Even though they are unending, even though they are necessary, even if they are difficult, joy may be found in them, as in all things. "What out there is truly a reward for our toil? The answer, we know, is pleasure. " The reward for our toil is our continued existence. Why is this worth our toils? I will demonstrate why in a moment. By the way, your answer is not true for all. Many humans believe in some form of afterlife, where our good work is supposedly rewarded. "Pleasure can also come from the accomplishment of our goals, which are ultimately meaningless. " Perhaps our work is ultimately meaningless, perhaps not. But our world is worthy. If the only reward I ever received for a lifetime of work was a breath of fresh air, the smell of a flower, or the taste of an apple, then I would be satisfied. Why should I not? "In the words of King Solomon the Wise, 'There is nothing really worthwhile out there. '" In the movie adaptation of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Samwise Gamgee says this: "There is some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for. " (Hey, I had to come up with some quote of my own to counter yours. ) True words. The good in this life is worth the struggle to survive, for it is GOOD. To experience emotion is worth it all. To feel, touch, taste, smell, and hear is worth it all. To LIVE is worth it all. I would not give away my life for anything, save that another might live to know these things. "So, in the end, pleasure derives from subsistence and reproduction. " Not all pleasure. We feel pleasure admiring beauty. We feel pleasure sharing this beauty with others. We feel pleasure in doing what is right. When we have power, we feel pleasure. When we posses what we desire, we feel pleasure. Pleasure can come from any of our senses. "'How fortunate are those who were never born,' declared Solomon," This quote begs the question, "where are people before they are born? ". We cannot be certain. I assume Solomon believed that they are outside of existence. That is, they don't exist. How is non-existence preferable to life? You cannot sense anything. You cannot experience anything. It is nothing. "'for they have never seen the evils of this life'. " True, there is evil in this life, but this is, in the end, for the better. At least in this world, there can be no good without bad. Life without negativity would be stagnant. Joy would not exist. To me, it seems as though this King Solomon guy was a pessimist. He must have had serious issues as a kid. "No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. No matter how much we eat, we are never full. No matter how much we do, we are never done. " True all. But life can be good nonetheless. "None of our accomplishments are truly permanent. All we do simply whithers away. After long enough, it is forgotten, and after long enough, we are forgotten. There is nothing truly good in this life. " We live in Time. To exist in Time is to always be changing. So of course nothing in this world is truly permanent. But life can be good nonetheless. I bring you back to the all-important definition of 'good'. Good: (1): agreeable, pleasant (1): adequate, satisfactory Life is all of those things, if we allow it to be so. It is possible for anyone, everyone, to be happy with this life we have, NO MATTER THEIR SITUATION. True happiness in this life comes from assessing our circumstances in a positive light. This is what makes life good. The American author, Dale Carnegie said it well: "It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about. " The floor is yours, wjmelements. I anticipate your response.