Why do you choose to continue living?

to spite entropy

Cheers, mate.

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

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.
- 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.
- 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.

I want to know what happens

Dog.

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.
- They really are the best companions, but you get as much as you put in.

I want to see what comes next.

We live in interesting times!

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

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

I'm a coward.

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.

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.

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.

I like the first half of your comment, but the second is really hard to swallow. I guess you meant "severe" or "debilitatingly" painful/disabled life, and I don't think you meant malice in what you're saying - but I know some people living with disabilities that would see your comment as calling them worthless.
- Oh no, I'm not saying anyone should feel any way, this is just my preference. And I did mean severe pain or disability, yes.

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.

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.

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.

have you tried gambling? you might really enjoy that one
- noooo, never. because i know myself i have a hard rule to never ever try gambling, casinos, and the like.

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

Too a stupid to die.

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

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

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

Thanks for the reminder. I'll make sure they know my body belongs in the trash can (in a few decades).
On this overpopulated planet, burying the dead seems like the biggest, most expensive waste...
- Mate you can send my corpse feet first through a wood chipper and fertilise a veggie crop... But it's not legal.
  
  So at some stage my family is going to have to make a choice and fork out a stupid amount of money.

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.

I love my husband and my cats

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

Death scares the shit out of me.

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

I'll get there eventually

Wow, the hubris is real. Ever heard of impostor's syndrome? Because you obviously don't suffer from it

this most likely is my only life, unless reincarnation is real
tons of people probably want me dead, so I stay alive to piss them off
I want to see what happens next
I can help to make other people's lives a little bit better
among all the pain and misery, there are lots of good things to enjoy
I'll get there eventually, no need to rush

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

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.

"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 feel you, it is all about getting together locally.

What is important is that We are here, we love life and want to live for the better!

DM are welcome!
- Maybe I'm doing something wrong or I'm not in the right places but I attend, lead projects and socialize at my college's physics, robotics, and engineering clubs, but the likeminded people I do find either aren't very social or aren't compatible with eachother. Thats not to say I dont get a small group going every once and awhile its just the overall pattern is people graduate, drift off, and any new members.. to put it kindly, dont exercise the same level of critical thinking.
  
  Maybe I'm just in the wrong places, college is a joke afterall, but I'm just curious if this is the kinda thing you ment by locally or not.

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!"

whoop whoop

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Silksong

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.

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!

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?

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.

I like to joke that it’s because my mum is still alive and I wouldn’t do that to her, but honestly even if I’m not happy I do pass the time by entertaining myself and I may as well stick it out.

I want to do stuff

I don’t.

I shot myself in the head last fall and just woke up like nothing had happened. Then I promptly experienced a powerful mandela effect. The most powerful and undeniable one in my life (because the thing that changed is something I had experienced in its “old” version a few days before I did the deed).

I’m pretty sure what that means is that when I die, I transition to the nearest universe where I didn’t.

It made me realize that I might be here an extremely long time, and that leaving is not an option no matter how dark it gets.

Since then, I have had a gusto and commitment to life that I never had before. I’ve been kind of suicidal my whole life. Always keeping it in the back of my head: if things get bad enough, I’ll just go.

But now my escape boats are burned, and my only choice is forward.

The experience has actually been really wonderful. It’s so much easier to get myself moving. I just remind myself that if I don’t take care of my shit now, the next ten thousand years are really gonna suck.

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.

I'm intending to build a more frequently enjoyable life. I may have to do some surgery before I'll be able to forget things in the moment though.

Because my mom wants me to.

what else ya gonna do? passes the time.

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.

Sheer bloody-mindedness.

I feel you on this. I often feel I'm living for pure spite.

At my lowest:

I wanted to get out of the pit just so I could help others get out too. But I'd admit I haven't actually realised this commitment. I just ask people how they feel and try to listen to everyone.
I did not want to give anyone the pleasure to know that I gave up, that I could not take it anymore. That they won.
I'd prefer to not cause suffering to my loved ones.

Now, I think life is both a gift and a responsability. And, right now, I want to fulfill this responsability I have towards others.

Anyways, I wish you all an existence that is worth going through.

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

I am certainly better than a pedophile or rapist or billionaire, and they are still living freely on this planet. I probably should continue living, as I can do better than them.

Oh, and we are living in a timeline of events never seen before at this scale and rate. I need to see it.

Because I know how much my funeral would suck

I'm really enjoying my life and I'm happy. I wouldn't trade that for anything!

I don't have ths balls to kill myself, nor access to guns. Other methods tend to have lower rates of success, and a failed suicide attempt is a pretty scary thought. While unlikely, even shot to the head can be survived. Especially if you accidentally move the gun while pulling the trigger which I heard does happen, only causing severe brain damage, but not death.

So yeah, I've got no balls and nobody else to kill me. That's about it. Not worth the risk yet.

Whenever I hear this I always feel it takes a lot more guts to understand why not to but continue to choose to live anyway. Death is a comforting certainty while living is the way we know it to be. Hope you and I will be able to feel differently and be more comfotable with the idea of continuing through this world.

I don't want my parents to experience my death / want to make sure they are helped in their last years. I've told them that there's an expiration onn that though. Like, you wanna live to 100? You'll be doing it without me.

I'm just in trial mode. I tried to quit in January, but randomness stoped it. Now I'm just testing if there is something worth it. So far, is not that good, but I'm still halfway the trial.

Randomness ? something tells me you're not the kind of person to identify jesus on a toast... I don't believe in meaning personally, but each day passing has its lot of discoveries on the universe, space, other planets, etc. to me it's a bit of a race, I want to live long enough to see more photos from Enceladus, Titan, learn whether there are simple lifeforms over there, witness the birth of a convincing unified physical model, I want to see humankind figure out dark matter at last, etc. I'm just dying to know. But I'll most likely die before I do. Here check out http://spacedaily.com/

I thought I'd just travel a bit and do nothing until I'm broke before I end it, but life was great then. Now I've sacrificed 10+ years trying to save some money for who knows what. Got to make it worth the sacrifice before I go

I don't truly know what happens to us after death but I believe it's likely nothing so I want to have as much of something as possible. As I heard once, suicide is a permanent solution to what can only be a temporary problem. We all die in the end anyway.

Also, as far as lives go mine is pretty good. At least I think so. I don't have any health problems, I have a job that pays more than enough for me to live comfortably, a house with a lot of possessions I like in it, and a cat.

It could be better. There's a few things I can think of that would improve it. Some are pretty much impossible and some would be very difficult but there's some that are probably within my reach, I'm just not putting in the effort to try to attain them.

because dying is painful!!!

I still have more cigarettes to smoke.

Food

Honestly? Not sure. More afraid of missing out than anything else.

Suicide is easy. And painless. You can be dead before you feel anything. If you haven't figured that out or have some other excuse, you're not really ready to go yet. Try to find out why.

I ain't going yet cuz I got shit to do.

That being said, I'll never live long enough to retire. Tapping out long before that.

Suicide is easy. And painless.

It also brings on many changes.

Living is fun and I have people I love and care for deeply, that make me see the world through alternative angles that deepen my appreciation.

Gratitude I feel towards the few good people in my life... Haven't lived a long life, but all I know is the life I lived.