52 thoughts on “Question of the Day – No. 317

  1. Living is feeling, experiencing, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, whereas surviving, is just that. It’s doing the basic tasks, staying within your comfort zone, Hiding behind emotional walls & letting fear control your choices, making it easier to say no & doing the same thing every day for 80 years and calling it a life.

  2. Living is feeling like you can afford the extras — buying something you want rather than something you need, going to
    a movie, taking a trip home to see family.
    Surviving is feeling like you can barely buy groceries after you pay bills. It’s feeling guilty if you spend money of something extra like a candy bar to split with your son. It’s looking in the cupboard and wondering if you’re going to make it to the next payday.

      1. In my opinion, yes. Also, if you’re giving up things like medical care or a trip to the dentist for something fairly serious, like teeth that are literally crumbling and falling apart, because you need to feed your family, you are only surviving, and barely at that. These are personal examples from my own life. I can’t afford insurance, and even if I had insurance I couldn’t afford the co-pay or the deductible, so I have to give up on these basic human needs so I can take care of the lower basic needs like food and shelter.

  3. I think living is also enjoying and experiencing life, while surviving is just staying alive….We all need to live our life and not just surviving as unfortunately we only have one 💕

  4. Living is being able to do what you WANT to do.

    Surviving is doing the things needed to be done so you can remain alive.
    You know, eating, working, sleeping, etc only because we HAVE TO do them.

  5. Surviving is having the bare minimum. Scraping by using whatever means necessary. Overcoming hardship and trauma. This can be financial, abuse, catastrophe, so many different things.

    Living is further up on the scale. It’s beyond survival. It’s creature comforts and first world problems.

      1. It depends on why you’re in the first category. If it’s financial, then money. If it’s trauma, then stability and healing. Abuse, then leaving the situation (or being able to leave, and then moving into stability and healing).

        Stability is a big part of all of it really. What it takes to get that stability changes depending on the circumstances.

      1. Well, when in a survival situation, morality and comfort take a backseat to need; you know what it is you have to do. Living is different, it allows one to question the reason for surviving, it allows one to create a new environment for themselves. (Socially, and physically) living is well beyond my understanding. Living must be that thing that helps us evolve as a species.? (I feel like I am trying to be smarter than I am. It’s ok to laugh) what do you think? I could use a lesson 😊

      2. I cannot offer lessons since I’m still a learner. But you have some point here. When our surviving is threatened, people tend to “bypass” morality (that’s why there are so many robberies and crimes in the world). I’m not sure what living really is. One day I feel I’m living and the next day I can feel I’m surviving. The difference between the two days is only my own perspective…

  6. Living is going through the motions of life: eating, drinking, working, sex; Surviving is the drive it takes to live, it’s the motivation, the gumption to get things done, to get up when you don’t want to.

  7. Living is making the most out of each day; finding joy in the not so good days. Surviving is convincing yourself to get out of bed every day and do it all over again. Lacking the desire to grow.

  8. I guess that surviving is nothing wrong, but living adds that sparkle, which matches with having a purpose, loving what you do, following a dream or a project, finding daily joy in the tiny pieces composing our big picture.

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