When we ask, “What is it that makes life worth living?”, we’re actually asking two very closely linked questions: How do we become happy? And how do we construct a life that feels meaningful? Though these may seem similar, philosophy has long debated whether happiness and meaning are the same, or even linked, to be honest.
Ancient philosophy had the inclination to tint happiness in the context of eudaimonia, a concept used by Aristotle to speak of flourishing within humanity. While a favorite food or video game provides only a brief rush of excitement, eudaimonia is more: living with intention, goodness, and reason. Happiness is not merely a feeling, it’s a lifestyle. Aristotle argued that the virtuous life, in the search for wisdom, courage, and compassion, is what ultimately gives life its significance.
Add to that hedonism, the pursuit of pleasure and lack of pain. Hedonists offer that the compilation of positive things within life is happiness. Eat what you desire, play with friends, and celebrate, these are what give life value. But thinkers like Aristotle and psychologists today note a catch: pleasure in itself might be empty if it is without purpose or context. You can have endless entertainment or endless scroll, but eventually, something deeper is needed in an effort to give life substance.
Existentialists like Viktor Frankl value meaning more than happiness. Frankl, a survivor of Auschwitz, instructed us that in horrific suffering, life is meaningful as long as we have a purpose, something to hold onto. Meaning comes from love relationships, creative activity, work for others, or some striving. Happiness may be transitory in this regard, but meaning provides us with roots and permits persistence when it gets tough.
Psychology validates such notions today. Research shows that people who pursue significant goals—serve others, create, learn—are more likely to have high long-term well-being than people who exist solely for pleasure. Purpose and happiness aren’t identical, yet they alternate on each other. Happy moments are more fully savored when part of a purposeful life. Purpose can carry us through suffering too, even when happiness isn’t within reach.
This is especially relevant to teens. You’re at an age when identity, drive, and relations are all in flux. It’s easy to chase temporary pleasure—fame on social media, video games, or parties—yet thinking about what adds extra significance to life can shape choices that will last a lifetime. Meaning can be art, science, friendships, activism, or self-discovery. Meaning and happiness are not alternatives; they are complementary, and together they deliver a happy and meaningful life.
The search for happiness and meaning also sparks issues of values. What do you believe in? What are your decisions founded on in values? Philosophy makes us wonder about these things over and over again. Life is not an examination for which one sits once but, instead, a sequence of decisions and judgments. Through what is most significant, you pair ordinary action with something that is greater in the sense of significance and introduce a life of meaningfulness and fulfillment.
Last, the response to “What makes life worth living?” never remains constant. It’s individual, different, and sometimes contradictory. Happiness can charm, virtue can guide, and sense can last. Philosophy, psychology, and individual thought all agree on the same point: a full life is a mixture of happiness and sense, experience and reflection, and action and sensitivity.
So think back on your own life, and consider happiness and purpose. Find what makes you happy, of course, but nurture what adds depth to your life. The richest lives aren’t flawless, just engaged, thoughtful, and lived-on-purpose ones. And it is in that middle ground that you may find the answer to the most confounding question of life: what truly makes life worth living.