The word 'life', when spoken by someone ignorant of the english language, sounds like a sigh of relief.A sigh of relief from someone who had been holding their breath in dread or fear of the future.
For me ofcourse, that was pretty much all it meant, until only recently. When one day it occured to me that life is a whole, consisting of all those moments of dread and the relief that follows.
The sigh, however, quite contrary to my earlier belief, is a sign of relief at the idea that no matter what we dread or fear, no matter how many times we must face the dreaded things, that life will go on. And we will always find happiness in other things that will keep life going.