By Troy Headrick
How would you define “the good life”?
I look forward to reading your answers.
Troy Headrick’s personal blog can be found here.
Question of the Day – No. 515
By Troy Headrick
How would you define “the good life”?
I look forward to reading your answers.
Troy Headrick’s personal blog can be found here.
Where my basic needs are met so that I don’t have to worry about that and I can express myself through whatever creative talent I have. Plus good time with family.
You’ve listed a lot of really important indicators here. I’ve often thought that practicing creativity provides a special kind of happiness. Thank you for the comment.
yup!
I think that at the base of good life is positive thinking. If in life you manage to always look forward (both in positive and negative periods), then you can have a positive life. Being grateful about being in good health also helps 🙂
Have a nice day 🙂
Before responding to your comment, I did a quick Google search and found a ton of famous quotes about the value of having good health. Being vigorous and energetic is terribly important. Thanks for the comment.
When you have learned from your mistakes, made adjustments, and planned accordingly. To me, it doesn’t take wealth to live a good life, it just takes peace in knowing that whatever comes your way you can get through it. 🙂
My father–one of the wisest people I know–has often spoken about the importance of peace of mind. I tend to agree with him and with you. Thanks for the comment.
Having the confidence and trust in yourself to know that you can handle whatever life throws at you. Then stress and anxiety over what could happen in the future would dissolve.
Living courageously and being comfortable in one’s own skin is terribly important. Thanks so much for the comment.
Contentment! GG
Are you making an agument against excessive ambition and drive? I’m just wondering. Thanks so much for the comment.
Not at all but I do thing to be content with what you have should not be frowned upon. I’ve had a lot and very little and now I’m comfortable and happy! No stress! GH
Actually, the reason I asked is because I think excessive ambition can really get people in trouble. In America, I see many people obsessed with wealth and celebrity. I lived in a few other countries and I don’t see this drive so much elsewhere. Being driven is a very American thing. As long as that drive comes from within, I suppose it’s fine, but many are driven because the culture and other external forces push them so much. I always feel hurried and driven in the US. I think it’s somewhat hard to live the sort of life you’ve described in the US. How about where you live?
I’m in Scotland and I think we ate more about working to live, at least most if the people i know are. It’s a means to an end not the be all and end all. GG
You’ve likely heard that Americans are “driven” people. Driven to “succeed.” Driven to climb the ladder of success. Driven to be winners and not losers. By the way, a few years ago, I was in Scotland. Lovely place.
I love Scotland very much. I also usually spend some time in New York and really enjoy my time there. GG
The good life is having meaning. With meaning we can get through most things, and it gives us purpose in (good) life.
By meaning, do you mean purpose–like living purposefully? I think that’s what you’re saying, right. Thanks so much for participating in this interesting conversation.
Meaning as in a sense of purpose. Why do I get up each morning? Why do I keep living? Yes, intentionality (and living with purpose) is important, but the key is having a why, that is what encourages living with purpose. I’d encourage you to read “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl, it’s a fantastic book and does a good job of exploring this topic.
Cool! I always appreciate it when readers make interesting reading suggestions. By the way, you seem like a pretty interesting and well-read person. Do you blog? If so, we’d definitely enjoy the opportunity to see some of your work. Why not leave a link here?
I try to stay well read so I can remain interesting.
And I do blog. I’ve set the goal to write a poem a day, but I also periodically post short stories and photography too.
https://tjssherman.wordpress.com/
Thanks for the link. I dropped by a few days ago and liked what I saw. Will visit again soon.
A clear conscience, autonomy, purpose, satisfying relationships, and harmony with nature are some important components of the good life. Of course, I also value health and the necessities of life.
Take care, Troy! 🙂
I love this, Cheryl! 👏🏻
Thanks. <3
That’s a pretty comprehensive list, Cheryl. I think you’re suggesting that I’ve asked a question that doesn’t have an easy answer. I would totally agree with that. Thanks for the comment. I always enjoy hearing from you.
Enough money to do the things one wants to do. Hopefully ethically earned. Big experiences, lot of memories. A fit, independent and well off old age. Some legacy or other left behind and remembered by a few people.
I really like your phrase “big experiences.” I’ve long had the desire to live the uncommon life. That’s why I left the US–my home country–and spent nearly two decades living in very interesting places, including those we sometimes very condescending refer to as “developing.” I’ve experienced revolutions and had some amazing experiences. I married a woman from Africa and am chomping at the bit to get back out there, into the big world. Thanks so much for prompting some really good recollections.
Wow hope you are recording some of your experiences in your blog. Would love to read.
You can find some pieces about my life in Egypt on my personal blog, if you go back into the archives some. Thanks for your interest.
love & be loved
Some very wise people have argued that love is the secret–that it’s the most powerful thing of all. Thanks for the comment.
Thanks to you 🙂
When you are at peace with yourself
Ah, contentment…peace of mind. Very wonderful things. We don’t know their power until they’re gone. Thanks so much.
When you come to realise that everything is absolutely and fantastically just astonishingly meaningless. Living a life bounded by constraints imposed on your beginning by giving you a name, nationality, religion and number segregated us from being at one with ourselves. Imagine the response if you want to denounce the nationality you have been told that you are by the invisible boundaries that were created and that you are simply a human being, a part of the human race, simply from Earth?
I think we share a very similar philosophy of life. I grew up the way most do–surrounded by decent but conventional people. It took a large part of the first twenty or so years of my life to realize that I was free to believe anything I wanted to believe and to have my own thoughts. Breaking away like that comes with guilt. We are so compressed and shaped by all manner of forces that we almost always get a bit deformed by life. I get the feeling you have a very interesting story to tell. I’m just guessing at that by reading between the lines of your comment. Thanks for your comment.
Thank you for your kind words. I’m a little bit of a hypocrite to my own thoughts as I still obey to convention and the like. The only things that I think we need to survive are the air we breathe and water we drink along with the food we eat. The rat race is for 1, a global pandemic and for 2, completely misnamed. Rats are creatures that have no respect for authority and no notion of adherence to it and they have sex up to 50 times a day. People have a tendency to judge you on your material possessions and you seem to find that when you meet a new acquaintance, you are asked what your occupation is and the car you drive there from the house you reside in to measure your success. Your music taste et al is only asked if you have passed the initial checklist for the social group
For me, self love is the source of having a “good life”. Some people misinterpret self love as narcissism and selfishness. Actually, self love means you can accept yourself for who you are. You’re grateful of what you have and not overthinking of what you haven’t or can’t have. You embrace your weakness while developing and improving yourself to another level at the same time.
Hi. It seems to me that you are describing a kind of freedom. The freedom to simply be the person you are–not the person you once were or that others wish you to be. Have you managed to engage in the kind of self-love you’ve described? If so, you are a lucky person.
Not everyone finds a way to like themselves, much less love themselves. Thanks for your comment.
The good life? Buying as much cheap plastic junk as I can fit in my house. Or, good friendships, work I love, time outdoors and family time.
Your comment has it all. A bit of irony and sarcasm as well as sincerity. I love it. Thanks.
My pleasure. I was reading Pointless Overthinking when it started three years ago. Congratulations on its great success!
I can’t take credit for starting the blog. Bogdan got it going. He’s taking a break from writing right now. I hope he rejoins us soon. Until then, I’m helping out a little bit. Thanks for the encouragement.
For me it’s all about contentment, if you’re happy about your life now and what you’ve had then you have a “good life”.
What are your thoughts on happiness? It sounds to me like you might equate it with contentment. Am I wrong? Thanks for your comment.
Being at peace with myself and having friends of like mind.
Peace of mind. If you go back through all the comments, a number of commenters argue that such a peace is the secret to a good life. It seems you’re in good company here.
Thanks for your comment.
It takes a lot of willingness and hard work to achieve peace of mind. But oh,
the rewards are so worth the effort. I highly recommend it!
I can definitely relate. I’ve had periods during my lifetime when I would have given almost anything for a bit more peace of mind.
I would define a good life as living in a place where everyone’s basic needs are met (this includes medical care, education and financial serenity) For myself I would explore subjects that I am interested in and work on projects that elevate connections between people. I would want a few good friends that I could rely on and vice versa.
I like the way you think. When asked such a question, many would focus on self-centered sorts of pursuits, but your comment suggests that the good life can only be achieved by being deeply connected with others. Am I reading you right?
Hi Troy,
Yes, you are reading me right. I do believe in having personal pursuits but I also believe that we are on this planet to participate with one another and create things. I believe very strongly that there is enough for everyone. If all of our basic human needs were met we would experience each other from a place where fear is not a main driver. I wonder what the United States would be like if so many of us were not in survival mode. If nobody went to bed hungry or no parent worried how to get their child the medicine they needed. If everyone had their basic needs met and we spent time and resources on early childhood development through Upper university and technical programs. The USA would be an incredible place to live. If we offered everyone good healthcare and there was truly equal pathways and opportunities in life society would have a lot less fear. I am hoping that the 21st century is more about let me control myself to cooperate with others and less of let me control others to get what I want.
One more thing, a good life for everyone would include an over hall of the justice system to be truly fair and equitable.
If we all participated to lower emotional and physical fear, our cities and states would be a lot different.
A country not motivated by fear is a lot calmer and people could expand and focus themselves…maybe our collective goal could actually be joy and happiness for each other. The absence of emotional and mental fear would be like when the power goes out and everything is calm.
I think it might take a few generations to achieve something like this but if everyone wanted a great life we might as well help each other get there.
I love your comments. I write similarly on my blog. The parallels between our writing ae decreasing fear, everyone being on survival mode, self-control and cooperation. Great to read someone else has similar thoughts
For me “A good life” would mean a little more than enough for basic needs and freedom to do what the heart wants. A little “me” time, lot of books, music, sunrises, flowers, and family.
You’ve put together a lovely list. I can’t disagree with you a bit. Thanks so much for your comment.
Interesting question! The good life changes as we age. What it meant when we were young is vastly different than what it means now. To me, it’s everything in my sphere being in the right place and doing well.
Are you arguing for a life of “balance,” with all things being orderly and proportionate? I’m just making sure I’m understanding you correctly. If I do, you sound very much like the ancient Greeks–who were wary about living a life of “extremes.” You’re also the first person to point out that our ideal can change over time. Thanks so much for your comment.
To me a good life is one where your heart is full with happiness and joy no matter how bad circumstances truly look
If I’m understanding you correctly, living the good life is less about what happens to a person and more about how that person responds to the events of life. Very insightful! Thanks so much.
I really enjoyed reading the comments and your responses. I have written quite a bit about my version of the good life in a blog. Basically, I think we all have our own personal moral code. When we conclude that our behaviours align to that code then we lead a good and happy life. However, moral assessments include evaluating our treatment of planet Earth, our treatment of fellow citizens and our general behavioural expressions. When they all align to our personal version of morally right then we can lead a good life – even in a modern world as strange as ours.
Thanks for the opportunity to read other people’s thoughts.
Hey, blogoath, you sound like someone who has done some thinking and figured a few things out. I’m curious about your blog. Why not leave a link here so we can check out your writing? I really like this line: “Basically, I think we all have our own personal moral code. When we conclude that our behaviours align to that code then we lead a good and happy life.” Then you broaden your definition a bit. Thanks for leaving a really thoughtful comment.
Thanks for the feedback. Yes… I am probably a bit manic about this topic about “the good life”. If you or or others have comments, please bring it on!
The blog is blogoath.wordpress.com
My main articles about this topic can be found at this link https://blogoath.wordpress.com/the-good-life/
The contents page includes longish essays (3,000 – 6,000 words) while the posts are bite size pieces of a couple of hundred words.
Hope you like them
Hi Troy. Thanks for the reply and comments. I really appreciate it. This is my blog https://blogoath.wordpress.com/ Near the top of the page is a link to the contents page of “The Good Life and Personal Happiness. Hope you look in.
Actually, I sent a reply through another method several days ago. But I couldn’t see it on this comments page. Maybe I did not press the button ( – bit of a life story there!!)
I really enjoyed reading the comments and your responses. I have written quite a bit about my version of the good life in a blog called blogoath. Basically, I think we all have our own personal moral code. When we conclude that our behaviours align to that code then we lead a good and happy life. However, moral assessments include evaluating our treatment of planet Earth, our treatment of fellow citizens and our general behavioural expressions. When they all align to our personal version of morally right then we can lead a good life – even in a modern world as strange as ours.
Thanks for the opportunity to read other people’s thoughts.
Sorry about the double comment…I was playing round a bit. I am a real beginner with this type of activity. Once again my apologies.
No problem whatsoever. I screw up similarly all the time.
A good life is a life which is able to accumulate greater perspective with each passing year, more acceptance , less judgement hence more love, more smiles and more life. A good life is where one can feel deeply once life as he has it and has clarity of mind so can work for making it better.
I like your definition because it stresses the mental and intellectual aspects of life. I especially like your phrase “clarity of mind.” Thinking is living. and I suppose good thinking would be somewhat important to the good life. Thanks so much for adding such an interesting comment.
I read all the comments in this forum , really found each one very interesting, and realized there is so much we can do to make our lives better in so many ways🙂
Experience of life (also experience of life being good) is created in this very moment: mine is created as I type, yours as you read. Right now.
I type good little truths and you read good stuff….there is only one type of good life: the one in this moment. So, it is up to each of us to be aware of how good this very moment is and the next one. The more we are in the good life of the moment, less we will move forward and backward in time looking for the ideas of what a good life was or could be.
🙂
A life without anxiety. Without worry. Without hate. Without envy. A life where peace and love are the order of the day. A life where no matter my circumstance, I’m happy (genuinely so), I have hope, I have a lifetime supply of Hollandia/FreshYo yoghurt, and I have Jesus.
A life where sharing love and kindness is the default setting.
Seeing beauty in all persons good and opposite of that, then beaming off & into 2 you …
To see a cloudy rainy day & enjoy the smell with your eyes closed & your heart open..
To be hard on yourself, then forgiving yourself kindly.. & on & on..