What Is The Essence of Life? Try This.

In life, it is surprising how many people, walk in a circle. Half doing so, because their mind said to do so. The other half doing so because
the first half is doing so. Before I judge, I remind myself the definition of
“a good life” is like a fingerprint, it’s unique to the owner.
While there might be people who’s good life is defined by winning the most laps around the circle, the important part is consciously making the decision to attain what they regard as a good life.

How Do I Know What I Think Is A Good Life Is In Fact A Good Life?
Funny as it might seem, the best way to prevent falling off of a cliff is to take heed from those in front of you.
If each person in front of the line takes one step and is never seen again, none of them fly back up or crawl up or walk on the ground or somehow make it to the other cliff, chances are if you take one more step you would, just like the rest, fall off the cliff. This applies to every area of life.
For example, almost every grandparent I’ve met is overjoyed being a grandparent, well, now I can forecast what to expect when I become one. Most self made millionaires are aware of their expenses, now I know I have to build that skillset.
I don’t have to know every millionaire or every grandparent, I just have to know that there are “success/positive/survival stories”.

Today, privacy is like a horse carriage, both barely exist. We have more access to other people than ever before.
We could read more books, we could watch more documentaries, we could be exposed to more “top secret” government files, more intelligence is available to us. With less privacy, we could see how others are living their lives. Therefore, one could put together their idea of a good life then compare with the information they have about people around them.
To consider what a “good life” means to you:
First, you have to spend a good amount of time with yourself, continue to write out and edit what you would regard as a good life.
Then, look to those closest to where you wish to be — do they look fulfilled, well do they? Listen to their podcasts and interviews — do they sound like someone you would want to be? Does their problems, heart aches and sleepless nights seem like something you would want?

Remember, there’s a price to pay for everything. E v e r y t h i n g!

Not just the price paid in the “struggle” to improve themselves but the dividends and sometimes, recurring payments (of the soul) people continue to pay for the price of “success”.
Would you pay their price? What changes could you make? It is possible to identify their potholes, and create a strategy for yourself with a better chance of avoiding or dealing with those potholes.
But their worst case scenario has to be something you think you can live with (should you fall off the cliff like they did somewhere on their journey to fame or wealth). For some aspirations it’s tough to find someone who’s living your ideal lifestyle, in which case, you’d have to decide to take a chance, do your best, hope for the best and start the trail. However, should there be someone who closely resembles who you want to become, study everything you can find about that person.

I realized sometime last month, if I expose myself to activities, behaviors and lifestyles that has trapped people and continue to trap people, it would be foolish of me to think I could engage in it and not get trapped, just like the rest. While it’s more (media) profitable to dwell on human differences, unfortunately a lot of our ways are strikingly the same. Certain laws of nature are the same for everyone, regardless of their origin. Touch fire, burn. Run off cliff, fall. Smile, feel better.

All my life has been an experiment of experience. For the past two years, I’ve concentrated on “what now?”. Yes, X happened, now what?. Alright, I want to accomplish Y, now that I know, where do I then go from here in order to get there? And, through this time, I’ve been fascinated with trying to define what a “good life” is.

What exactly is living a good life? There are certain essentials, necessary for life to be fulfilled.

• Health: Some people have good health, some people have to do a bit more, a little extra, for good health. Whichever side of the street you’re on, attaining and maintaining good health is essential for a good life.
• Mental stimulation: In order to not completely lose your mind, there has to be something for your mind to solve. The mind is designed to improve states. It’s one sole purpose is to make uncountable decisions to improve your state. Take you from here to there. That’s it.
  Imagine an equipment made solely to accomplish goals. This machine would have to be fed goals and aspirations for it to think of strategies to accomplish them. Once, a person stops challenging their mind, recovering is almost futile. So write, have intellectual conversations, go to a debate.
• Determination: You have to have a reason to wake up the next day. Find out your why for existing. Why did you survive? What do you want to see better in the world?
• Witness: The one thing I learned from the movie MadMax is “witness me”. Our days on the earth is very limited, very, very limited. Yes, 24 hours is a very long time but think about it, we read books from 1900s, yet the authors have been dead for decades.
  It is essential to have someone to witness you. Witness you living life, making mistakes yet persevering. Learning, improving, winning. This role is generally assigned to your family, your friends and loved ones. Have some people, even if its 1 person, with whom you experience their life, and they witness you.
• Experience: You owe it to yourself to travel. Travel often and travel light. You dont know “home” until you’ve been away from home. You don’t know where you belong until you leave where you are.
  I continue to meet people who act a certain way, live the same place they were born, and think based on unwritten scripts installed by an invisible person. They are yet to experience different and really have nothing to compare life to. It is essential for you to know good from great.
  And the only way to know what you like from what you don’t is to be aware of its existence. You don’t have to touch fire but you have to know touching it could burn you.
  Just the same, you don’t know whether you like flying or not, until you actually get on the plane several times to go somewhere.

Based on these, I would then say the essence for my life would be to:
Be Healthy. Have Mental Stimulation. Want Something.
Have Someone To Share With.
Learn About (and maybe experience) Alternatives.

First comes the curiosity which leads to questions (seed is planted), which could sidetrack to complacency (while seed takes root), then back to curiosity, then tougher questions, maybe creating a plan. Back to complacency, then (plant blossoms) boom!, action.

Appreciate yourself. There are different positive versions of you waiting to be discovered and the way to improve who you are is to place yourself in exciting situations.
Let life happen to you, which sometimes could feel like being thrown into a washing machine, find your peace and learn about yourself in the midst of the tussle.

Failing at something or attaining victory, is neither good nor bad. But each have the same ultimate quality — it gives you an opportunity to learn more about yourself. Some people are proud losers and some are losing champions. Don’t be some people. Instead be who you want to be and recognize failing or victory as a reward for this moment, enjoy it, learn from it then move on to the next thing.

Everything you enjoy in your life today, in a great part, is thanks to your past self. Same goes with whatever you’re struggling with.
Nothing could be done in the immediate to change your circumstance, your past had an opportunity and did its best. The wonderful news is, today would soon be your new past, what could you do to make your future self smile instead of cry? what do you owe your future self?

For a good life is being your best self. Living a life that is good to you and others.

With Love,

Famous Steve