The Value of Life

In his 1950 book Childhood and Society, psychoanalyst Erik Erikson first published his eight stage theory regarding human development. At different periods of one’s life, he claimed, a person undergoes emotional conflicts specific to his or her age. He described the eighth and final stage of mental development as a clash between “integrity” and “despair.” Integrity is defined by a general sense of fulfillment with one’s life and contributions to society, while despair describes a feeling of disappointment when remembering failures and shortcomings. As people lead their lives, they are solely concerned with the present, unaware of how they will reflect upon themselves in the future. However, in essence, the ultimate goal which dictates a life’s direction is the ability to reflect upon one’s past with contentment and satisfaction.

A person determines the value of his life based upon the degree to which he meets his own personal aspirations. Such aspirations can involve material ambitions, such as wealth or success in an occupation, or mental goals, like the achievement of Nirvana by Buddhist monks. In addition, each individual’s aspirations are highly personal, unable to be fully comprehended by others. For example, a political dissident sees himself as living a fulfilling life by acting to correct social injustice, while a staunch conservative may view the dissident’s life as a hopeless rebellion against societal stability. Therefore, because one’s opinion regarding the value of a specific lifestyle is so subjective, people rarely share the same specific criteria for their own goals. The value of a life can only truly be determined by the person leading that life.

Nevertheless, as people mature, their outlooks on life and personal ambitions often change. For example, an adolescent may aim to achieve a dynamic sex life, spending hours working out after school and frequenting numerous parties on weekends. However, after exposure to the realities of the adult world upon searching for post-high school employment, the young adult may wish that he had valued scholastic success during his high school career. As an adolescent, he lived what he had previously seen as a meaningful life, but an alteration of his personal ideals resulted in a change in the perceived value of his past.

Therefore, in a way, humans are constantly evaluating the value of their lives at all different stages of their development. Due to ignorance regarding the facts of life, younger people may value ideals which they will regret following the attainment of wisdom through experience. However, at the time which a person holds such ideals, he sees himself as leading a valuable life in the pursuit of personal goals. At each step in a person’s maturation, the person sees meaning in his life in that he is striving to achieve his aspirations. While in life’s final stage, a person’s satisfaction with his past is derived from whether personal achievements for past goals are compatible with values obtained from a lifetime of acquiring worldly wisdom.

Upon reflecting on my own desires, certain personal goals become particularly evident to me. One aspiration on which I place particular importance is the realization of my intellectual potential. Over the course of my high school career, I have been preparing for admission into a respected college, entrance into a lucrative field of business, and, hopefully, life in a prosperous and comfortable household. However, my personal aspirations regarding my future career go beyond material goals. I often observe as adults in society lament the fact that they never “pushed” themselves as hard academically or financially as they should have, regretting that they were never able to reach their personal potential. I plan to continue to work towards fostering my mental and personal growth, reaching a high level of accomplishment in my future line of work. I hope not only to attain an affluent lifestyle through excelling in my career, but to attain the ability to reflect on my past and know that I achieved what I had set out to achieve.

While realizing my goals for my own potential, I also hope to win the respect of my peers. For some people, hope for the broad recognition of personal accomplishments extents to a desire for wide-ranging fame. In a way, these people hope to quash their personal uncertainty regarding the value of their abilities and achievements by receiving widespread laudation for their accomplishments. My own aspirations regarding winning the respect of others would be satisfied with a much smaller range of outside acknowledgement. As with those desiring fame, receiving admiration from others would help me to appreciate my success in achieving my own potential. However, winning the respect of my peers would give me a sense of contentment in my ability to positively influence others and to be a valuable member of society.

Individualism and the ability to dictate my own future represents another ideal which I hope to maintain during my life. All too often, people conform to society’s demands and expectations of them. I cannot begin to describe the number of times I have been told to become a doctor by family members, teachers, and other adults. As a result, at an earlier stage of my life, I truly believed that I would grow up to be a doctor. However, in recent years, I have grown to realize that I have not yet decided on a specific profession for my future. I may, one day, decide that I do wish to become a doctor. However, my decision will ultimately be based on my own desires and preferences rather than the suggestions of others. I value the fact that I will have the ability to determine individually the type of life which I want to lead.

While my personal ambitions are clearly important to me, I cannot ignore my desire for friendship and love throughout my lifetime. Love and relationships help to provide people with a sense of stability and social “belonging.” Receiving respect from colleagues for accomplishment in a profession gives people the knowledge that they are appreciated by society for their specific skills. However, people must also be made to feel that they are appreciated by society on a personal level. Both giving and receiving love make humans feel that they are valued by others not only for their abilities, but for their fundamental characteristics as human beings. Friendship and love are essential goals in the pursuit of a meaningful role in society.

Until this point, I have listed personal aspirations which are largely aimed at achieving self-contentment upon reaching life’s final stage rather than self-contentment in the present. For example, although realizing my abilities would be rewarding, it would require a good deal of labor and self-sacrifice, potentially detracting from my present level of happiness. Therefore, as a final personal goal, I hope to maintain a level of contentment regarding the present throughout all stages of my life. As an honors student, I have constantly had to refrain from spending time with friends or pursuing non-academic goals in order to complete my studies. Such decisions may have been beneficial for my future plans regarding college and career, but detracted from my current state of happiness. While achieving contentment with one’s past is unquestionably important, equally important is the enjoyment of the experiences that led to one’s present state. Some people, including myself, have a tendency to be blinded by aspirations for future happiness and, thus, to neglect the present. However, satisfaction in the present is equally as vital to achieving a meaningful life as is preparation for future contentment.