Ask Lemmy

On a personal level it comes down to "Am I happy?"

That can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different individuals.

I used to say my goal is to live hard and die young. I’m not so nihilistic anymore, but I’d still say I’m living a good life if I’m pushing myself to my limits to have fun and experience new things.

I got lucky and got good career guidance that lead me to a job I enjoyed. It wasn't a burning passion, just a gig that let me help people and paid a reasonable salary.

If you can wake up on a rainy Monday morning and not hate getting out of bed, you've solved most of your problems.

This is kind of the fundamental question of philosophy, right...? How should we live? What is the meaning and purpose of live? What constitutes a good live?

For me, I take a somewhat existentialist approach to life. I think we have to find subjective meaning and value in an inherently absurd and chaotic world, full of too many people who same to only care about themselves. Corruption, religion, politics, cults, corporations, money, conspiracy, lies, bullshit, random acts of violence and hate--all of these things are so senseless and arbitrary, we'd go crazy trying to make sense of it all.

So I choose to value my family, friends, art, music, hanging out, eating good food, chilling out, using open technology to benefit my life, as well as living virtuously as part of trying to be part of a good society.

My knee-jerk reaction would be "if you're happy", but I had an epiphany a while back:
I was chitchatting with a coworker over way too many beers and he asked me something along the lines of "were you happy growing up (insert background here)", and after weighing my words I responded that "I would've been, except I'm generally not near happy as a baseline".

So am I satisfied with my life? Yes.
Do I have worries? Yes, like anyone else on this planet. Mine are pretty minor and not debilitating.
Do I consider myself happy now? See above.

But yet, I'd conclude that I'm living a good life, even if I'm generally a grumpy guy.

ethics

that is what really matters, rich or poor. I have lived as an ultra poor person with only the cloths on my back and, thankfully, on my best friends couch. I now live in a big old historical house. The guy who built my house also subscribed to the ideal that ethics was paramount. He was famous for creating the Sunday Edition newspaper so the farming community could have an edition that was specifically for them. Containing the important things a rural, isolated person would need from a news source.

I choose to work in state government because doing something that adds to the community is more important to me then the dollar bill. I could easily make 50K more in a corprate job but the dollar is not important. I have almost a million dollars saved but that is always for the rainy day that will come.

When I see people asking for money, I ask them when was the last time they ate a full meal. You will find that hungry people will be very honest and giving a hungry person a full meal is one of the greatest rewards. That feeling is a harsh reailty. My city is full of homeless, well beyond the norm. It is historically a hobo rest stop. So I feel obligated to make sure new faces are fed.

So what is the good life... IDK

but I am trying and it starts with caring about my fellow person. Not taking advantage of someone, unless they are trying to get one over on me. Welcoming the stranger and caring about the little moments where you see someone trying their best and telling them you see it.

Caring. Even when it hurts.

I'm generally happy usually, financially stable, eat okay, cut out the shitty people in my life, exercise regularly, speak to a therapist twice a month, take a couple medications and regularly help in my local community. The former one completely because of the latter 7.

i think leary put it best.. he wasnt talking of the meaning of life, but i think he is;

Happiness comes in small doses folks. It's a cigarette butt, or a chocolate chip cookie or a five second orgasm. You come, you smoke the butt you eat the cookie you go to sleep wake up and go back to fucking work the next morning, THAT'S IT! End of fucking list! - Denis Leary [No Cure For Cancer]

I try (everything is progress towards a known unreachable ideal character) to live a righteous life while believing in God and the Day of Judgment with excitement, not fear (whilst still keeping in mind my share of this world). In Kierkegaard's terms: I've left the aesthetic stage, walked through the ethical stage and I leapt into the religious stage, and God caught me. Once you do that, I've found that the rest comes by itself, and your fulfilment is mostly guaranteed (this is still just my personal experience though).

A good life is something that you notice rather than decide. You probably have to go through hardship to acually appreciate when life is good.

If you can look back on the road you've ridden in your life and just have as few regrets as possible, then you've made your life as well as it could've been with the cards you've been dealt. When it is a very confidently-backed 'Good enough' than one where you feel like you could've done more.

Take only photos, leave only footprints.

Leave the world a better place than you found it.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

It aint hard ✌️

Edit: also, try not to violate the weekend saftey brief.

Khitan General: My fear is that my sons will never understand me. Hao! Dai ye! We won again! This is good. But what is best in life?

Khitan Warrior: The open steppe, a fleet horse, falcons at your wrist, and the wind in your hair.

Khitan General: Wrong! Conan, what is best in life?

Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women!

Khitan General: That is good!

(Conan the Barbarian, 1982)

Watching a documentary.