There are two primary ways of trying to live a good life. The first is living a life of Faith, that is believing in God and the other is living without belief in God. A secondary to this is, of course, being agnostic, which is still living without Faith—by not being committed to the Creator.
''The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.''
—Bertrand Russell
Our relationship to the world is colored by whether or not we think there is a creative purpose for our lives.
Looking past the theological belief how can we a achieve a good life in a practical, step by step way?
Life Plan
What do you value most? List all the people and things that you value. Prioritize your list. Take a good amount of time thinking about the things without which you couldn't live without.Determine your moral compass. What are your core values? Freedom, justice, altruism? Kindness, courage? Determine your moral code and ethics.
What calls to you? Seek out and then define what you do well. How can you incorporate your strengths, skills and talents to support and nourish yourself and others.
Set goals. Goal setting will help you live a purposeful life. You should realize from the start that goals can change at any time. You will most likely have to adapt your goals as your life develops and changes. But if you structure your goals well you life will run much smoother.
Prioritize your life. After you have identified the people who matter to you most. Discovered your values, and set your goals, then you can create and set your priorities. These priorities will change as you move forward in life. For example, while you are in school, your studies will be a priority. Later on, your marriage and your family may be you main focus. Bottom-line, be flexible.
To sum up, living a good life depends on what is important to you. By taking the time to define your values, priorities, and goals you will have a foundation for that good life. Add purposeful balance to all these things and then work with a committed, burning desire to fulfill your life's purpose. Build a strong network of relationships and be a good mother or father, and/or a good friend to all. Serve your partner, your community and mankind overall and of course stay true to yourself and your values.
Lastly, the 'why'. Why is life good (no matter what)? Because your life is a gift of love. You were given it so that you might learn to love. There is no greater thing in the Universe than love.
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What Makes a Good Life?
Lessons from the longest study on happiness
by Robert Waldinger,
What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life? If you think it's fame and money, you're not alone – but, according to psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, you're mistaken. As the director of a 75-year-old study on adult development, Waldinger has unprecedented access to data on true happiness and satisfaction. In this talk, he shares three important lessons learned from the study as well as some practical, old-as-the-hills wisdom on how to build a fulfilling, long life.
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