> This Week: What Is "The Good Life?"
Welcome to "SIMPLY SUSTAINABLE SUCCESS" - Feb 10, 2009:
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Helping You Create What Matters MOST in Life and Work --
And Support The Systems of Life that Support Us All!
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Hi All,
Wild weather here in Victoria, BC. Sunny first thing this morning. Then snow mid-morning. Sunny, bright and warm around noon. Now it appears another front is moving through as dark clouds approach. Ah, well, it's just the weather; we'll take it in stride.
Taking things in stride is good advice when it comes to uncertain and challenging times such as we're now experiencing. But it can sometimes be difficult to do so.
One of the best ways to be able to do so was summed up by concentration camp survivor Viktor Frankl, who (quoting Nietzsche) said: "The person who has a why can survive and how."
One of the most powerful "why's you can craft is your own notion of "the good life." Knowing what your good life would comprise, how it would look and feel, and how you would recognize it if you created will provide you with a clear beacon to steer off of, in these difficult times.
"Find something you really care about," sang Kate Wolf, "and live a life that shows it."
Here are five questions to ponder to help you imagine and feel what your good life would be, if you created it?
You don't need definitive answers to these questions right away. In fact, it's good to ponder them over some period of time, noting your answers and the differences between them at different times, and in different moods.
Also, as you think about these questions and your answers, beware of the dreaded "yes, but…" response.
We often mix up vision and reality by thinking of something that we'd love to create, and then negating it by saying, "I'd love to… but I couldn't do that" or, "…I don't have enough money," or, "…I don't have the skills or experience."
If you notice yourself doing this, stop. Catch yourself. Just let the answer stand, without the "but." If you negate it with a "but", you don't give the answer time to form fully, and the excitement of it is lost.
Here are the questions. Take some time to ponder them. Jot down your answers, and compare them to answers that arise later.
1. What makes you come most fully alive? What most deeply excites you?
2. What were you doing when you were most happy and engaged in life? In work?
3. What are you passionate about doing? About creating, i.e., bringing into being? If you don't know, imagine that you do know and see what comes to mind?
4. What really matters to you now? What do you value most? If there's more than one thing, arrange them in a list with the most important at the top.
5. Imagine that money is no object, that you cannot fail, won't be embarrassed, and have whatever it takes to create whatever you want -- what do you want to create? Imagine it as fully completed, and part of your life. Take some time to notice the feelings that arise as you imagine what you'd love to create?
Taken together, these questions can go a long way to helping you imagine what, for you, is the good life you long for.
If you'd like to delve deeper into the question, "What Is the Good Life? I have posted a short article on that topic at http://hubpages.com/hub/What-Is-the-Good-Life
In it I outline three kinds of lives—based on material, mastery, and meaning— through which we seem to evolve toward a universal definition of the good life as a "flourishing, happy life."
I suggest that while each life level might be necessary to truly flourish, and to experience authentic happiness, we often get attached to one or another, and become stalled. For more on how to get beyond that attachment and create the kind and quality of good life you long for, read the article at: http://hubpages.com/hub/What-Is-the-Good-Life
Other HubPage articles you might enjoy:
"Staying Up In Down Times," -- http://tinyurl.com/Staying-up
"Abundance? Or Sufficience?" -- http://tinyurl.com/Sufficience
"The Promise of Simplicity: Doing More With Less" -- http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Promise-of-Simplicity
You can access all of my HubPages articles at: http://hubpages.com/profile/Bruce+Elkin
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> MORE THAN MONEY: "WHAT IS THE GOOD LIFE?" VIDEO
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This 3-minute animated video depicts an old but lasting parable on the subject of the good life. You may know, but I'm sure you'll enjoy this short vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbD6j_1-kSk
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>THE MOST AMAZING CHALK ART I'VE EVER SEEN!
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I'm repeating this item because so many folks raved about it last time.
Julian Beever is an English artist who is famous for his art on the pavements of England, France, Germany, USA, AUSTRALIA, and Belgium. Its peculiarity? Beever gives his drawings an anamorphous view; his images are drawn in such a way that gives them three dimensionality when viewed from the correct angle. It's amazing! Really! Check out these sites:
http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/
This art will astound you. It really will. Talk about creativity!
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>QUOTABLE QUOTES:
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"There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by."
-- Annie Dillard
"There are no days in life so memorable as those which vibrated to some stroke of the imagination."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The good life is the healthful life, the merry life. Life is health, joy, laughter. "
-- Jean Bodin
"There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why."
-- William Barclay
"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
-- Albert Einstein
"You're alive. Do something. The directive in life, the moral imperative was so uncomplicated. It could be expressed in single words, not complete sentences. It sounded like this: Look. Listen. Choose. Act."
-- Barbara Hall
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>MY BOOKS:
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Just a reminder that I sell my books from my website. For more info, or to purchase
• Simplicity and Success: Creating the Life You Long For,
• Emotional Mastery: Manage Your Moods & Create What Matters--With Whatever Life Gives You! (ebook)
• Creating Sustainable Success: How We Can Transcend Problems, and Create Simple Yet Rich, Healthy, and Sustainable Lives! [Contact me directly for this ebook, or buy the other two on the site, and I'll give you this one, gratis!]
Visit http://www.BruceElkin.com
Buying these books is a win/win way for you to support the newsletter and me. I appreciate your support!
Also, I'm just about finished a new ebook titled Staying Up In Down Times: Creating Resilience, Results, and Rewards. I'm going to be making it available to anyone who wants it, as my gift. Stay tuned!
>Want a preview? http://hubpages.com/hub/Staying-Up-In-Down-Times
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> IT'S NEVER TOO LATE!
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> If you haven't made resolutions, or set goals, this year, why not start now? It's never too late, and people with written goals out-perform those without them. In this economic climate, any edge you can get will be helpful. For info, email me with "Coaching Info" as subject!
Have a wonderful week!
Bruce |
