A Good Life essay

The Good Life Denise West April 14, 2013 Siena Heights University Gail Ryder Introduction A proficient spirit is what everyone desires. But what is actually a good life? Many people subscribe their throw interpretation of what a good life is. Society today has a different outlook on what is an acceptable lifestyle. Many people are influenced with the perception of how an individual should brook their life. Some often mold themselves trying to fulfill their happiness through Americas perception on how they should live. Instead they hold back disap adverted with the disapproval of others and often forget what happiness really means to them.A good life consists of maximizing happiness. Many confide wealth, power, and respect commences happiness. I happen to dis outfit. I believe wealth and power bring sorrow and problems. The philosopher Socrates did not approve happiness was result of affluence and material consumption. He believed a complete and active mind is happier than a consumer of finer foods and expansive c bulkhing (De Botton, 2000). Whether it is haughty or negative, as dour is the individual accepts and is quick of his or her own life, then they are nourishment a good life.My life revolves around a combining of these cardinal themes education, cut back, ethics, relationships, spirituality, and success. In my essay, I impart give my expertise of a good life. I will share thoughts of my life and give examples of each theme of why live the trend I do. Education I believe education is a lifelong affect that consists of both formal and informal experiences that lead to the individual learning something. The setting could be a home, a school, a study, a volunteer position, or an internship learning experience.Education is an ongoing mix of experiences I think an machinated someone is a one who has made the to the highest degree of each experience and learned from it. One should possess the familiar knowledge needed for making sure r ational decisions and inferences on familiar and novel situations in individualized and intellectual life. An educated person should also master of the general thinking abilities required for making informed intelligent decisions, estimates, assessments, and inferences. Philosopher Montaigne was an educated man with commodious wisdom. He spent most of his spear time in a circular library reading books (De Botton, 2000).I was raised by a family who is very educated. My mother and acquire perk up master degrees. My baby is a receive student at Kansas State University. My father pushed my sister and I our entire lives of the importance of education. I receive a tremendous amount of support from my parents, family and friends. They forever motivate me to be happy in completing and continuing my education. My send offs for education are to continue to graduate school. Later in life, I am interested in teaching secondary education. I suck a lot of inspiration and support from oth ers and I am determined to succeed.I instill the importance of intelligence agency to my children. I agree with Montaignes two categories of knowledge learning and wisdom. In the learning category his move logic, etymology, grammar, Latin and Greek. And in the wisdom category he places a far broader, much valuable pattern of knowledge, everything that could help a person to live well Montaignes intentions were to assist people live jubilantly and morally (De Botton, p 153, 2000). These are two categories that keep me hungry for more(prenominal). I often find myself harder on my son, because the graduation rate has dropped tremendously and it continues to decline.Depending on what aspiration a person has, having an education qualifies for owing(p) employment. motion The will power, motivation, and education are a good start in performing the ideal military control in the workplace. The ambition and excitement of commuting to work daily is great feeling. A good work environm ent improves satisfaction and productivity. When a person is unhappy in the workplace, it is a drag waking up each day to return to that place of business. Philosopher Epicurus believed the tension starts to show at home and we often point the finger at work (De Botton, 2000).It is master(prenominal) to be able to balance work and home to coiffure a positive work environment. Having a stress free job as well having turn and believe in your work is part of the good life. A good workings environment is important for employee morale. It builds powerful relationships between associates and among the biggest motivating factors in the workplace. I enjoy the work I do on a daily basis. It is a challenging job that requires an outgoing personality, sales drive, and patience. The down fall of my workplace is the associates and environment. We lack communication and the ability to coach each other to improve the workplace.The location in an urban area limits the probability of sales gro wth, variety customer base, as well as deepening relationships. At times, I felt the same pain as Epicurus. We both started to wonder if were on the correct life story path. One thing I lack in the workplace is empathy. I meet a lot of people each day. Many customers have personal problems they choose to share with me. Many times I cant relate, because I have not experienced it. I represent my employer, and I am branded by them. I have to maintain a certain image and give great impressions. My supervisor has coached me on empathizing with my customers.We role play each week, and he has given me different conversation tools to wear assist my customers. I unavoidableness to give my customers a great experience each time they visit. To diminish tension, and misinterpretation, I will start utilizing 360 coaching. This is a tool recommended by my employer. Associates coach each including management. We give positive feedback to each other on how we could improve. This should help my team with any disagreements one may have with other associate. After opening up with one another and sharing each other differences, the company is great place work.Communication is the key to every success. With our recent suggestions and improvement, I believe everything will work out great. morality Ethics is a concept of morality principles. It defines the standard behavior which tells us the most common way of society good, bad, right and wrong. The book Affluenza written by authors Graff, Wann, and Naylor have great information on living a good life daily minimizing consumption. Affluenza is a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, deft, anxiety, and waste resulting from the sullen pursuit of more (Degraff, Wann, Naylor, p. , 2001). Afflenza respects those perfectly human desires, and seeks to create ways to make comfort, elegance, and enjoyment more genuine and durables than purchasable, perishable commodities (Degraff, Wann, Naylor, 2001). Unfor tunately, I struggle with Affuenza. My pay and I live a certain lifestyle. Our lifestyles boil down to become expansive. We often find ourselves caught up in what we feel we have to have or need, such(prenominal) as hair, nails, brand name clothing, jewelry, and restaurants. We also have plenty of unnecessary bills entirely because they are available resources to us.We are not utilizing the product or service for what it is worth. We have more stuff, little time, and our quality of life seems to be deteriorating (Degraff, Wann, Naylor, 2001). As we move forward in our lives, I try to educate my finance of Affluenza and suggested a variety of ways will can conserve time and money. I plan to start tracking our daily spending habits more closely. If we cut back on luxury habits we could save thousands a category. We are coming to together and taking it one day at time. It is difficult to switch over some things you are accustomed to.Overcoming this disease is important to us, bec ause we are embarking on a higher level in our relationship. We are before long testing our new ideas to happiness in our lives. Hopefully the results give us some leeway to plan what matters most to us, and how we will cherish our years to come. Relationships One of my biggest challenges of my life is my relationship. in that location is nothing more important than the quality of my relationship. My relationship influences the major decisions I make and is a considerable part of my happiness. Relationships can be very stressful at times. They require at lot of listening, effort, and compromising.Both parties have to be unbidden to sacrifice in order to move forward. A fundamental to a dependable relationship is commitment. Commitment to making a relationship strong and healthy is the basis on which it will mature. Relationships take plenty work and effort. Compared to life itself, relationships are aggressive and intense because we are forever changing. A durable relationship need continuous nurturing and that takes commitment from both parties. Our commitment to the relationship is unconditional lovingness about maintaining and improving our relationship, even during times of anger or disappointment.thither may be times when I am not even sure I like him, but I am committed. My strong commitment reminds me of Epicurus views of friendship. At first he thought pleasure brought him happiness. He eventually had a switch of heart and found that the loyalty of friendship is what matters most (De Botton, 2000). I will spend the effort to sustain relationship during tough times. The motivation of keeping our family together saved us. We put our differences aside and our children first. Their security is most important. Our determination led us to our engagement. We are set to wed next summer. Spirituality One doesnt need either the bible to instruct one in prudence nor the fear of divine retribution to provide the incentive (De Bottom, 2000). Epicurus shows us how morality can be founded upon prudent self-interest. I was raised a Christian. Philosopher Nietzsche called Christianity the organized religion of comfortableness (De Bottom, p. 238, 2000). Until my grandmother died in 1993, my family and I attended church regularly. As an adult, continue to believe in the Christian Religion however I do not practice it. I currently do not the bible for a number of debates. I do not want to be put in a category as a hypocrite.I am uncomfortable in committing to a religion if I am not ready to live righteously. I dont want to find myself going back and forth and continuously repenting to the Lord for sins I have committed. The second yard I do not practice Christianity is because I do have a church home. I have not find a church where I felt comfortable worshiping. In the past, I found myself visiting a variety of churches and none felt right to me. I started to wonder, I am looking in the right religion? Maybe theres another religion that ma kes more sense to me and has a place where I could worship and feel comfortable.The significance of any religion lies patently in the answer to the question why do I exist, and what is my relationship to the infinite universe that surrounds me? It is unrealizable for there to be a person with no religion as it is for there to be a person without a heart. He may not know that he has a religion, just as a person may not know that he has a heart, but it is no more possible for a person to exist without a religion than without a hear (Leo Tolstoy, 1879). As I read this statement from Tolstoy Confession, I thought about my current situation.Tolstoy was a philosopher who came to believe that he had finish nothing and his life was meaningless (Patterson, p. 5, 1983). The third reason I do not practice Christianity is because my finance studys another religion. I have taken in to consideration to research his religion and to a common ground and decide which religion is best for me. Eithe r way, we both have to agree on the same religion. It is important we raise our children with the same values to live a good and happy life. Success The meaning of Success comes in many a(prenominal) forms, and a variety of meanings.It defines what you are searching for in life. It is within the perception of the individual. A large portion of ones life is spent working to become successful. People are told during the upbringing to work hard so they earn make separate of money. People have a variety of interpretations of what success means to them. Socrates says, One who understands the limits of the good life knows that what eliminates the song brought on by need and what makes the whole of life perfect is easily obtained, so that there is no need for enterprises that entail the struggle for success (De Botton, 2000).Success is often measured by social status and wealth. I determined success by the amount of happiness one feels. I live my life by planning. This is task that I pu t in place to organization my life. Time management is important to me. I currently have a blue print for my life. It is sectioned in four categories which are common chord weeks, three months, one year, and three years. This is a tool used to set goals and manage my life. Each year I review my blue print to ensure each goal is accomplished. My goals are similar to the six themes I have discussed.I consider myself to be a successful person. I have managed to complete every major task I have set forth. I have an outstanding family with two exquisite children. I am scheduled to graduate in December 2010, and I have an awesome job. I am in process of simplifying consumption, and we are working toward spirituality. These are important goals that I and my family discuss on a regular basis. I continue to stay open for suggestions and constructive criticism. I am willing to explore whatever is necessary to work toward a wonderful and happy life. This year is a successful year.Conclusion We think happiness is good, therefore we seek it. The search for happiness can be endless if you do not know what you are searching for. Individuals find themselves never accomplishing their goals. We can choose to enjoy the pretend and explore as much as possible. Try to make a conscious resolution to be content. By having a peace of mind and satisfaction means you are happy with what you have and what you are. I received my results of a good life with a history of effectiveness and success. I have a general sense of what I feel are the best ways to get things done.I set of process and principles that has worked well for me over many years. I am a detailed person who manages time, plans for the future, and a fan of great strategy. I choose to ignore the setbacks and I look at the big picture in order to guide myself and my organization to maximum results. A good life is a combination of many things. Everyone has their own interpretation of what a good life is. It starts with self development within individual. Many philosophers such as Epicurus and Socrates believe pleasure brings forth happiness (De Botton, 2000). I happen to agree.Nothing matter to me more than my happiness. It is up to the individual to decide what pleasures them most. My life has had its many shares of a rollercoaster. I have made and learned from my mistakes. There is not anything that I regret nor wished didnt happen during the years of my life. Without my mistakes, I would not have the opportunity to learn and grow. As a whole, I cherish my life I believe it is great. I am thankful for awaking each morning and for blessing me each day I have no reason to complain. I have experienced more than I ever dreamed of.Most importantly, I am sunny in being a mother. My family is extremely important to me. They complete each and every accomplishment. In combination of each principle, task, and theme they all relate and evolve around one specific goal which is my family. What a great life Refe rences De Botton, A. (2000). The Consolations of Philosophy. New York Pantheon Books. Graaf, J. , Naylor, T. , & Wann, D. (2001). Affluenza. San Francisco Brerrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. Tolstoy, L. (1993). Confession. Translated by David Patterson. New York W. W. Norton & Company.