Pondering Life or Living?

Thanks to Brenda for hosting Pondering.  This weeks topic is: 
Life or Living...
For me there is a big difference between life and living.  Life is just existing, it is going through the motions necessary to scrape by.  Life is getting up, going to work, come home, watch TV, go to bed then rinse and repeat daily.  Living on the other hand is being engaged with the world around and attempting to make all things around you better.  Living is when one takes on their passions in order to grow and develop.  It is the person who does genealogy or crafts or runs marathons just to challenge themselves just to get a little better at their chosen activity.  It is about growth and moving forward.  
Personally, I think the key to happiness in life is living.  If you talk to people you know who are unhappy, they often say the same things: 
I am stuck in ________________ I am bored with ______________ I never get to _______________ I can't ___________ I feel trapped by ____________
While we can not have everything we want and we will all have to do undesirable tasks: there is a difference between sacrifice and being a martyr. I have seen many who have martyred themselves for relationships, their children or their job.  They lose their sense of individual being because they feel they need to give everything to the cause.  While that seems noble, the reality is that if one loses their concept of self, the person can not grow and develop.  They cease to live and become trapped in life.  This leads to unhappiness and that what may start off as positive often turns into negative results as the person who is martyring themselves withers away into unhappiness.
This is why living is the key to happiness.  Take a class, start to run, pursue something you have a passion for.  Create a positive space in your world and then extend that place to other parts of your lives.  If one has the will, they can find a way.  Living is about making choices that allow you the freedom to move forward in life. It is about finding a place where personal growth can occur so that one is able to make a better contribution upon the world around them.  Those who choose to live often find that their life and the lives of those around them so much better for doing so.