"A leprosy victim, no matter how wretched has only one life to live out -- one single life just like yours."
This life-shaping realization must be one of the most touching line one must have ever read. Dr. Ruth Pfau, a German doctor who has made a big difference by giving her dedication to eradicate leprosy and its stigma in Pakistan, gave these words.
That certain sentence must be so inspiring. That is so true! Each one of us has only one life to live out -- one single life so everyone should appreciate most the value of life above anything else. However, one people still just do not have second thought when they take their own lives or the lives of other people. Why do people just do not live it or value it the right way.
But how should one value lives righteously?
There are four levels of valuing lives, (1) Instant Gratification, (2) Personal Achievement, (3) Good Beyond One's Self, and (4) Participation in Ultimate Truth.
Instant Gratification is the lowest level. Many people are on this level of valuing life. This level involves external pleasure possession or physical stimulation of life. This involves giving one's self material things like car, techie gadgets, and the likes. This level is more self-centered and has no enduring happiness by reason of it only focuses the gratification of one's life due to man's unending discontentment. This is also the least challenging because it is not intellectual.
The second level is the Personal Achievement. This level exists when one's life goes on through achieving, winning, admiration, power, and control. This also comes out with comparison of one's life with other people's lives through jealousy, envy, rage, inferiority, superiority, and the likes. If one's life has an utmost experience of a big positive difference to him, he values his life as the second level.
Good Beyond One's Self is the third level. On this level, one is not just valuing his own life but also the lives of other people. One is not just making a positive difference to his life but he is also making a positive difference to the lives of other people. One loves to live his life because it gives him more joy about living, and still he cannot stand the thought of there are other people who are suffering from great poverty, sorrow, and adversities. This level moves you to become a better person by thinking of making a positive difference to another cultures, families, and organizations.
The last and the highest level of valuing life is the Participation in Ultimate Truth. Valuing life on this level is the last level. This involves not just making a positive difference to other people but also the participation in ultimate truth, love, justice, beauty, and being. The best way to value life is accepting God, letting him into our lives. No one can reach infinity. We need God to come to our lives to truly value our lives. If one accepts God, lets him in into our lives, we will be fulfilled and happy. If one values his life on this level, the happiness he would gain is more than that of the three lower levels.
Just like Dr. Ruth Pfau, everybody must live life according to the fourth level. One must learn to value life by finding direction in whatever religion he belongs to, and serve God and other people around him with all of his hearts to make the world a better place. Make the world a better place so that we can say to ourselves, without a doubt that life is beautiful and is really worth living.
You, how do you value your life?
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