The more I am out and about in the world, the more I am amazed at the limitless paths to good living that exist. There are so many ways to live well, and with only one life, we simply can't travel all those paths. Via reading, travel, conversation, and observation we are able view and learn from these many lives and adopt aspects of those life paths for our own lives as we grow and change.
Sometimes hearing about or observing another's life may bring about feelings of insecurity, jealousy, anxiousness, or worry. This is natural. We may think, Should my life be like that? This is a fine point to wonder about and consider as there may be elements of other's lives that you want to reach for, adopt, and make your own, and there are likely aspects of those lives you choose not to adopt. We learn a lot from each other about what we want and what we don't want. That's part of the natural life process.
The more we embrace and accept the many positive ways there are to live, the better off we'll be.
Recently I've been privvy to multiple differing lifeways--lifeways that have made me question my own life choices past and present.
In some situations, people are heavily invested in creating places that bring them peace and happiness. These choices have made me wonder about my own investments related to our personal happiness--how much do we want to invest in the places where we live? What's a good investment for me and what is not?
In other situations, people are investing time and money into travel and other experiences. How much time and money do we want to invest in the experiences we have? What value do those experiences bring to our lives and the lives of others?
There are those who are heavily investing in their professional careers? When is that the right choice and how do we make time and money for investments like that?
Still more invest in service to others and relationships--they spend great amounts of time doing what they can to help others live their best possible lives? How much time do we spend in endeavors like this and what value does that bring to our lives?
In every case, people have benefits that may make their choices easier. Some have lots of money, others have attractive looks and healthy bodies, and still more have large circles of supportive friends and family. In every situation, people have some benefits and not others. No one has it all--everyone has their benefits and deficits.
Life's journey for each of is will be different. We will all face our challenges and our strengths. We will all have regrets. We will all learn a lot, and we will all have good memories and wonderful times to look back on.
What's important as we consider life's journey is that we continually live and work to live lives that are true to us--lives that bring the best we can to ourselves and others, lives of value, and lives that make the world a bit better for those that come after us.
How will I do that? How will we all do that? I'm thinking about that today?