At each stage of life, it is likely that you'll define the good life a bit differently. I thought about this today as I prepared to support the good life for loved ones I see and care for often.
How do my loved ones define the good life now? What can I do to help them achieve that definition?
Positive routine
I suspect my loved ones will point to their positive daily routine as one aspect of the good life now. Their routine includes good food, a comfortable home, and sufficient support to maintain that routine at home.
Friendship and companionship
I also believe they would add friendship and companionship to their good life attributes. I see the way they smile when people visit, send a card, or make a phone call.
Storytelling
They appear to enjoy telling or listening to a good story, and stories of past, memorable events seem to be some of their favorites.
Consult
These loved ones enjoy when you reach out to them for their wisdom and consult. They enjoy sharing their perspective and ideas about what will work best in specific situations. Their advice remains solid.
Care
They seem to truly enjoy any kind of personal care you can provide--the kind of care that includes loving contact and knowing what they need when they need it.
As I spend time with the wide range of those I love in the coming weeks and months, I want to think about how they would describe the good life for their lives today--what does that include and why? As I write this post, I'm thinking about how I'd describe the good life right now for the stage of life I'm in--the attributes that lead to happiness, closeness, depth, and good living.
Though it's likely that we'll never attain all that we desire when it comes to the good life, the truth is that we'll attain little to none of it if we don't take time to think about what the good life means to us right now where we are. Onward.