The Will to Live

I think we can all reflect on past moments in our lives where we were “on fire” for life. Waking up early every morning to spend time with God and exercise before starting the day’s work. Dreaming about future goals and what we wanted out of life.

If a season in your life came to mind, you and I both can acknowledge right now how difficult it is to maintain such an intense discipline, especially when we are met with unforeseen circumstances and setbacks. We are prone to losing motivation and foregoing healthy rhythms. At the end of the day, we know what we need to do but we don’t do it.

Why?

If I am being honest, it seems to me that as we go through life, our hardships, disappointments, apathy, and unfulfilled expectations slowly jade away at our will to live. We succumb to letting the troubles of life dictate our mood, health, and our day to day. I mean no one willingly desires suffering, right?

Disclaimer:

Before we move on, I just want to take a second to acknowledge those of you overwhelmed by pain. I do not know what you are going through, but I am so sorry you feel the way you do. I pray you will find comfort and a renewed sense of joy and strength.

I don’t want to leave you here though. If you need time to grieve, take your time. Bring your situation before the Lord again and again and again — as many times as you need.

He already knows. And He wants to hear from you. He awaits lovingly ready to embrace you.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

— Psalm 73:26

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

— Psalm 42:11

For those of you still with me — I am writing to you today, not to present an easy solution for our seemingly insufficient willpower. But to help you reflect deeply and hopefully encourage you to seek God for greater perspective over your life and current situation. Only you can make the decision to make changes in your life that hopefully lead to the fruitful experiences you aspire towards.

With that said, let me introduce you to some neuroanatomy.

There is a structure in the brain called the Anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex (aMCC), otherwise known as the neural epicenter for the will to live. Located in the cingulate gyrus which runs along the medial wall of the brain, this structure plays a key role in managing the cost/benefit analysis associated with tenacity and willpower.

When you lean into that undesirable task, such as running early in the morning when you really don’t feel like it, you stimulate your aMCC. When you choose to spend time learning a difficult subject or practicing a challenging skill rather than zoning out to what is easy and comfortable like scrolling on social media, you stimulate your aMCC. The moments of internal negotiation you have with yourself when faced with an undesirable and difficult task is exactly where your will to live can be strengthened or weakened. Essentially, by avoiding discomfort, you are depriving your aMCC of the very stimulus it needs to develop willpower.

According To Current Research:

Increased aMCC function is associated with:

  • Increased perseverance in tasks (Mulert et al., 2005; Naito et al., 2000)

  • Increased willingness to exert effort during cost-benefit analysis (Bonnelle et al., 2016)

  • Increased motivational capacity (Touroutoglou et al., 2019)

  • Healthy aging and sustained cognitive performance over time (Sun et al., 2016)

  • Reduced feelings of apathy and depression (Touroutoglou et al., 2019)

  • Reduced obesity risk (Carnell et al., 2017)

To break it down simply, the aMCC plays an important role in how we act upon difficult tasks, especially those that require willpower. The research suggests that engaging with undesirable tasks that demand sustained effort can activate the aMCC and strengthen its capacity over time, similar to how physical exercise builds muscle. This neural reinforcement is critical for developing tenacity, invigorating your will to live, and suppressing apathy, especially when faced with adversity.

This information isn’t a surprise to me nor should it be to you. Doing hard things consistently, especially when undesirable, leads to increased willpower, tenacity, and healthier aging. If you don’t want to read your Bible, read it anyway. If you are not in the mood to exercise, go exercise. If you don’t want to wash the dishes, wash the dishes. With time, you may just discover that your actions will start to influence your thoughts and feelings. Your goals will start to become reality. And you won’t have to live with the regret of “what could have been?”

If this meets you with hesitation because you have tried over and over to stay the path but you just cannot do it, all I ask is that you consider the opportunity that lay before you with a soft heart. Everyone has to start somewhere.

If anything, I hope you feel at least a little excited. Excited about the journey ahead of you to embrace the difficult tasks that will lead you to your desired way of life. Enjoy this excitement for now. Just remember, the real work begins when that excitement fades and you find yourself back in that internal negotiation. How will you respond?

“The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.”– Proverbs 13:4

If you would like to share any feedback, personal experiences, or thoughts with the author, please email iza.zabaneh@tcu.edu.