The literal definition of 'exist' is "to have being in a specified place or under certain conditions; be found; occur".
The literal definition of 'live' is "to have a life rich in experience; to remain in human memory or record".
Søren Kierkegaard based his existentialist philosophy on the idea that an individual is responsible for giving his or her life meaning and living it passionately. All other things that may get in the way (ie. boredom, despair) should be disregarded, although they may be challenging.
Essence.
Existence precedes essence. We are and then we become. One of Kierkegaard's successors in this claim, Simone de Beauvoir, developed the idea "one is not born a woman, but becomes one". She followed the idea that humans are born without any identity or value, but bring it upon themselves throughout life in the choices they make and the people they associate themselves with and so on and so forth. I can be born with the female parts and sit and wait and grow and eat and sleep, but if that's all I do, am I a woman? Am I anything? Then the thought may arise- "Well, who is to say what being a woman is?" Society. Society says what a woman is and what she does and how she is supposed to think. You may not agree with the standard- but it is what it is.
Again- am I anything?
I sit, I eat, I breathe, sleep, think.
But what am I?
I'm a human being lacking a purpose.
“We live but a fraction of our lives”- Henry David Thoreau
What does it mean to live?
Is it enough to merely exist? To sit somewhere and just be?
What will you be remembered for? Will anyone remember you?
Our lives are like land mines waiting for someone. something. anything. to cross it's path.
We're not invincible. We do not live forever. Why would anyone want to just exist?
To live is to make an impact. It doesn't have to be huge, it doesn't have to change the world forever. But to change one person's life... to change your own life (hopefully for the better) is to live.
You must become what you want to be.
To wake up one morning and claim, "today I'm going to become the richest man in the world!" is absurd unless you already have some sort of get-rich-quick scheme ready to go; waiting for you to push the "ON" button.
It takes work. Life. Takes. Work.
We need to find something to live for.
Someone to live for.
Someone. Something. Anything.
"I doubt, therefore I think; I think therefore I am"- Rene Descartes
We cannot simply be here. We need to make some sort of impact in this world. By nature humans have a desire to get out and learn and explore. Open our minds to new ideas. Accept technological advances, new theories and the evidence supporting, think for ourselves.
Help ourselves.
Help others.
Love and be loved.
It's all we have in this beautiful, weary world.
“The entire sum of existence is the magic of being needed by just one person”- Unknown
