Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge. Bertrand Russell
Life moves along as we make our choices, set our goals, and face our fears. No matter how bad something is, can we make it worse? Does life roll along until something blindsides us? Something we didn’t see coming has to be dealt with, and we don’t know where we’ll be at the end of it. Can we have faith we can get through it, tunnel under it, or rise above it, but somehow come out the other end okay? We’ll be changed for sure, maybe we’ll have more empathy for others, understand we are more resilient than we thought, and go forward with a wider view of life.
Facing challenges may bring us closer as we join forces to get through challenging times. Jim Rohn tells us, “Don’t ask for it to be easy, ask to be better.” When we read books and watch movies, the story is about overcoming a challenge; sailing along might be a small part of the story, but the real story is overcoming something.
How many people have started over and built a better life than they had? I can’t imagine how hard life is for people living in war-torn lands. We hear about people who have faced the worst in life, found themselves in a new country, and excel at building a life.
When we look at fit and healthy people, they have built a life that keeps them fit and healthy. Their choices lead to a healthy life. We are the sum of our choices, and even if we don’t think we have enough choices, we still have many to make every day, leading to a worse or better life.
We might think we need to make big choices to improve our life, but what if the choice between water and pop, or pasta and salad, is a choice we make most days, and it improves our life?
The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination. Carl Rogers
What if we chose to go for a walk every day? What if we brought more movement into our lives, elevated our diet, and found other ways to improve our lives? What if every time we see something that could become a problem, we take care of it? There are many choices we can make to elevate our lives, and making one choice leads to other choices.
Our choices will reverberate throughout the years. What choices can we make that will pay dividends in the future? What choices have negative consequences? Family, friendship, and work are the cornerstones we use to build our lives. We need faith to build better lives and move forward. There comes a time when we retire from work, but we still need to find purpose and service, something to do, that will give us a feeling of achievement.
Finding balance is always difficult; when we are busy, finding leisure is the challenge. When we have nothing but leisure, finding meaning and purpose is a challenge. Facing the challenges in life builds a good life. Building a life of purpose and service in every stage of our lives gives us a reason to get up in the morning.
Do we have challenges we need to face boldly? Are there opportunities in our challenges?
The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience. Eleanor Roosevelt
Life itself is a privilege, but to live life to the fullest well, that is a choice. Andy Andrews
We are not given a good life or a bad life. We are given a life. It’s up to us to make it good or bad. Unknown
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