Atheists often say that having just one life makes life more precious but does that mean we should be satisfied with just this one life?

Why do you not know what an atheist is‽

ATHEIST - someone who does not believe in a God – any God – not just the Christian one. But that does not mean they do not hold strong moral or religious beliefs! They can follow any religion that does not have a god and there are a lot of those!

Like BUDDHISM – Religious teaching from Buddha and his followers that by destroying greed, hatred and delusion (the cause of all suffering) man can attain perfect enlightenment!

Where do you think Christianity got it's ideas of a soul and afterlife from for goodness sake?

They stole it from the pagan tribes and peoples which existed hundreds and thousands of years before Christianity!

From the stone age through Vikings, Egyptians, Maoris, Aborigines, American Indians and especially the Chinese, they all had elaborate funerals and grave goods to speed the soul into the next life with comfort!

but does that mean we should be satisfied with just this one life?

- You can be satisfied or not, but are you going to pi$$ this life away and the fantasy that there is another one waiting for you? You "believe" that, but the only proof you have is a proven fantasy.

But for comparison, suppose you only got to experience sex one time. It might make the experience more precious but would you want it to stop just because that one time was precious?

- That is a meaningless and absurdly stupid comparison.

If you assume that life ends at death, then the thought that you had something precious and now no longer have it is supposed to be comforting?

- No, life is not "comforting" it simply is and we are back to you wasting this life trying to fulfill a proven fantasy waitng for the fantasy next life.

If you are not going to be satisfied with the only life you get, aren't you just setting yourself for failure? I guess since you'll be dead and non-existent before you realize you dissatisfaction with only one life was a huge waste of human experience that it really doesn't matter.

In other words - that's the point of being dissatisfied with something you can never ever have?

No, I would like to keep the sex going for as long as I possibly can and will if I have the opportunity. But with life, we don't have a choice. We only have this one life, and we have to make the best out of what we have.

What I might want and what I'm going to get are not necessarily the same thing.

I'm only getting one life whether I like it or not.

So are you.

Update

Once I'm dead, I won't be having ANY thoughts about anything, precious or not.

I'll be dead.

Get it?

That's a crappy comparison. Sex is a choice, no one ever chose to live (or be born). I don't believe in god, but I wouldn't mind if this was my only life. On a side note, I know the universe naturally created me once why couldn't it do it again.

If you're not satisfied with just this one life, feel free to make up more.

Brother, we should find this one life precious and we should be satisfied with it. Remember! We have it only by the grace of God. If we are to live on, that too, is only by His grace. Let us not count our chickens as if to tap our feet in expectation.

We should be thankful.

Life beyond Earth is not ours

until He grants it.

Atheists don't typically say things like "I want my life to be shorter so it's even more precious!" Nor do we say "I want less money so I appreciate the money I do have even more!"

I'd happily add extra years or decades or more to my life (provided I'm in good health), but I won't delude myself that it's going to happen.

However, one thing you say does ring true: should we be satisfied? Well of course we WON'T be! Lol... but pretending like there's more when there's not won't get us anywhere... however, using our brains and resources to figure out what causes aging and finding ways to undo it or prevent it does have a chance of being effective... which is exactly what we're doing actually!... now that could never result in eternal life, but it could result in having longer, healthier lives. But the motivation has to be there! If we're all convinced that we can't do anything, and dream of fantasy lives to come, that saps our initiative.

UPDATE:

@Matthew T, you ask a very good question (in the comment). I have not had to go through the process of eternal separation (other than with pets) except once and that's with my mom who died in 2001. I was right there with her to the end, as was the rest of the family. She had lost her religion in the last years, and so there was no talk of God or an afterlife between us. We simply discussed her life and were with her all the way. It does make me sad, but I really did get over it. I'm left with fond memories (and some not so fond! Lol) and I hope to leave people I know here in my life with an equally interesting mix... Lol.

A couple of things that I found interesting if you're interested in the "atheist's perspective"... first this opening segment from a debate ... I've fast forwarded you to the part of interest, so it starts there, and goes just a few minutes (not the whole debate):

http://tinyurl.com/lxs5xjd

That's physicist Sean Carroll, one of my personal favorites: he's not as abrasive as some atheists I think, but I really liked the way he started that off.

I also really liked this statement from Ann Druyan (Carl Sagan's widow) about his death:

“When my husband died, because he was so famous & known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me — it still sometimes happens — & ask me if Carl changed at the end & converted to a belief in an afterlife. They also frequently ask me if I think I will see him again. Carl faced his death with unflagging courage & never sought refuge in illusions. The tragedy was that we knew we would never see each other again. I don’t ever expect to be reunited with Carl. But, the great thing is that when we were together, for nearly twenty years, we lived with a vivid appreciation of how brief & precious life is. We never trivialized the meaning of death by pretending it was anything other than a final parting. Every single moment that we were alive & we were together was miraculous — not miraculous in the sense of inexplicable or supernatural. We knew we were beneficiaries of chance… That pure chance could be so generous & so kind… That we could find each other, as Carl wrote so beautifully in Cosmos, you know, in the vastness of space & the immensity of time… That we could be together for twenty years. That is something which sustains me & it’s much more meaningful…"

http://brijux.com/2011/08/25/ann-druyan-carl-sagan...

Final bit, this animation I really like from youtube annimator Darmmatter2525 (don't worry, this is a serious one: he's not making fun of anyone here: it's about 3 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a42RHVmnUAA

Thanks for the question.

UPDATE #2: You write:

"If you assume that life ends at death, then the thought that you had something precious and now no longer have it is supposed to be comforting?"

When you don't have it any longer, you won't know it. That's just the way most of us believe it is. It's not a matter of being comforting, it's a matter of wanting to know how it really is, comforting or not.

"...belief is not a choice. It's a compulsion, beyond the realm of choice, achieved through convincing arguments, evidence and trust. I do not choose what I believe because I perceive it as the more attractive option. I'm compelled to believe what I think is true whether I like it or not, because desirability is not a requisite of the truth."

-- Darkmatter2525 (see source)

Living as many lives as you like would be nice, but that isn't the point of this idea. The point is to think of all the things you want to do. Now, imagine having a limited timeframe to do them in as opposed to an eternity. Which gives you a greater sense of urgency? Which one is each second of wasted time a greater loss to?