Life as we know it (LAWKI) is just one example of life, a version descended from a common ancestor as it happened to arise on Earth a bit less than ~4 billion years ago.
Modern definitions of life are typically functionally descriptive. Life self-sufficiently maintains homeostasis, grows, reproduces, interacts with and adapts to its environment.
These definitions have usually excluded life-like entities (like viruses) on the basis that they need a host to function.
A more inclusive perspective on living processes not only enables thinking about life elswehere in the universe, but it may be necessary for understanding Earth life as well.
At some point, there must have been entities that had some qualities of life but didn't meet contemporary criteria of life. Those entities would have been our ancestors!
