Buddhism and giving up one's self

I was reading up on the Buddhist concept of the afterlife and I find it quite strange how the Buddhists would want to dissipate into nothingness forever rather than to not give themselves up and have themselves reincarnated over and over again. They say they would give themselves up because life mostly consists of suffering and that it is better to give up one's self than to keep on living this life over and over again which is a life of suffering.

But by saying that, they are saying that since life consists of suffering, that it is not all that great of a life and that it is better to give up on it. This is contradictory to something else Buddhists talk about which is the idea that our lives can still have full joy and meaning in the midst of suffering. Therefore, why give up ourselves if we can instead choose to live a meaningful life over and over again even if it is a life of much suffering?

Therefore, I see no reason to give up on living. That is, providing, a life of suffering really can still be a full meaningful and joyful life. If it's not, then the Buddhists would be instead adhering to the concept known as "hedonism" which is the whole notion that one's life can only have full joy and meaning if it is a life that has as little suffering and as much pleasure as possible.

Here, I will present to you the Buddhist concept of the afterlife here in this link:

http://www.near-death.com/religion/buddhism/afterlife-beliefs.html