The value of life

After watching Neon Genesis Evangelion, the last 2 episodes (of the TV series) provided a psychological assessment of the EVA pilot, Ikari Shinji. He pondered upon the question: "Does my life hold any value?" In the end, he managed to break through his psychological restrains and get some self-esteem.
And so, it led me to think: What is the value of life, and what determins the value of our lives?

There are many definitions to the value of life, different perspectives from the government, society, and the individual. For governments(political), it is the cost of reducing the number of deaths by one, be it workers safety, healthcare etc. For society, maybe its the amount of contributions made by the individual to the society. For the individual, it is how one values their own life.
Let's be selfish and concentrate on the individual perspective.

What determins the value of our lives?
"It is how one values our own life." By this definition, it is obvious that it is the individual that determins their own value of their life. Interesting statistics from wikipedia: "Typically, the value of life has been placed at $3 million per life and $100,000 per year of life."

How does that work?
There are 2 factors that make us look up to ourselves, which is our capability and confidence. The more capable we are, the more confident we are, the more we value our lives.

1.Capabilities
The ability to perform actions. Earning praise from bosses, impressing dates, winning awards, in studies, work, CCAs, and even skills like handicraft, balloon sculpturing, or having a good sense of direction; All these are capabilities. Not all are appreciated, but you should still value them.
So, we should constantly seek to upgrade ourselves, pick up new skills, be interested in anything and everything because increasing our value in life is what we should strive to achieve.


2.Confidence
Believing in yourself, in your capabilities. That is self-confidence. Confidence can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, as those without it may fail or not try because they lack it, and those with it may succeed because they have it, rather than because of an innate ability. Too much self-confidence will lead to overconfidence, which is dangerous, because if you don't have enough ability and skill, then you'll screw up. But for those who lack confidence, it is important to get some. One must believe that there is a purpose in life, and believe in yourself. With no confidence, that psychological barrier will hinder attempts, limit abilities and limit achievements.


3. Happiness
Oh, did I mention there was a 3rd factor? Happiness. This is often determined by your own actions and mindset, friends, family. Communication, spending time together, interaaction, sharing secrets, telling jokes.
What's the use of capabilities and confidence if one is not happy? Happiness extents life. In a way, your life has more value when you live longer, as it is $100,000 a year. But this monetarily-assigned value is meaningless if you do not make full use of that 1 year. Live life to the fullest. Be happy, as one minute of sadness is 60 seconds of happiness wasted.

There is a difference.
Don't live life because you are afraid of death; like a shell empty of soul.
Live life because it is worth living; And it is.

The value of life is intrinsic; It cannot be sold, but it can be fully used by the individual.

Just a few more months.