Chapter Fourteen: Living or Existing

Do I live or do I exist? That question reminds me of a part of Hamlet’s soliloquy--"To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them."
William Shakespeare

Did Hamlet live or exist? One way to answer the question might be he did both. However, a case can be made to suggest that if a person chooses to not examine his/her life then life is mere existence. To choose to sit back and let life throw at you what it will is a choice that each of us must make from time-to-time. And, as mentioned in the previous chapter, the choice can be both the right one and the wrong one.

The first few lines of Hamlet’s soliloquy might well have said, “To live, or not to live: that is the question.” This seems to be the struggle he is having. Reading the total soliloquy will suggest he is thinking about suicide, and that can be a valid choice. I, personally, do not recommend it, but it is a choice.

We would be well served by asking this question of ourselves. Do I want to live or do I want to exist? Can I vacillate between the two? What do each of them mean to me? The answers to these questions can only have meaning to the person who asks them about themselves. For some, their life journey may well be to “…suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” In spite of that, can a person live under such circumstances?

To move from mere existence to living, requires a conscious choice. The choice to live one’s life is one that requires some introspection. It requires that we love ourselves enough to love others. It means we must behave in ways that will be of service to others. It means we must find the beauty and blessings in the events that we have chosen to make up our lives.



Jack’s Nugget: To live and love fully, do good works.

Take me back to the Directions page: