What are the most important things needed to live a good life?
The concept of a “good life” varies greatly among individuals, influenced by their circumstances, needs, and priorities. For some, basic survival, like food and health, defines happiness. As people age, their desires shift, often prioritising financial stability and comfort, which can lead to a relentless chase for material possessions. Happiness can also stem from simple joys, not just wealth. A farmer’s contentment may come from a good harvest rather than riches, emphasising internal satisfaction over external validation. Ultimately, true happiness and a good life focus on mental wellbeing, relationships, and appreciating life’s small moments, rather than merely accumulating wealth.
Good life?! What is this all about? Do we mean a good life is one that is full of luxuries and all that one wants? Should it be a parameter to gauge the amount of a good life? Are those who have aplenty, lead a worry-free and a good life? The answer would be varied, depending on the condition one is in.
People are different, and so are their problems, worries, and perceptions. One can be dumb and stolid, but it can be due to one’s psyche and the atmosphere one was reared in. People often react according to their condition. A hungry person instantly needs food. Other things can wait but not hunger. It is the trait that the body shows and tells the individual that it needs food for energy. Hunger would then be the parameter and having two square meals a day would be a good life. Similarly, the most important thing for a chronic patient suffering from excruciating pain would be to get relief and a permanent cure from his deadly disease.
Understanding the elements of a good and happy life is not difficult. Our perception modifies components based on time and urgency. A student, going for an examination, would not like to be unsuccessful. S/he has done labour and prepared well to get excellent marks in the examination. Getting it, the student would feel happy and if he gets what he expects, feel on cloud nine. Defining a good life is challenging, if not impossible.
As a person grows old, their priorities change according to their necessities and their urgency. Grappling to get money in his youth, one can have a depreciative wish for wealth during his advanced stage of life. The reasons are obvious. During the early stage of life, when one needs to acquire vital things for survival, money is the prime need, which becomes twofold after marriage, as responsibilities double. In current times, when couples struggle to have a good life, they want to earn more. Both of them prefer a job to get enough money for a decent house, a four-wheeler vehicle and a nice ambience. For them, the parameter would definitely be money.
Money is a prerequisite and a portal to a good life because of its purchasing power. It can get anything that gives pleasure and comfort at the physical level. A decent, big house, good food, the best education for children, the best medical care, lots of amusements and entertainment and many more. Those who do not have money or less money, often compromise and feel deprived. They feel envious when their children are not getting quality education, or watch with a sense of deprivation as affluent children enjoy a festival. It gives their parents excruciating pain. For them good life is the happiness of their children.
After fulfilling physical needs and comforts, one starts longing for more. During summers when a simple hand-operated fan sufficed the purpose, a cooler becomes a necessity. It was soon replaced by an air conditioner (AC). This increased wish is not a necessity but a luxury. Similarly, the wish to own a palatial bungalow equipped with modern gadgets and amenities is the extension of luxury. Vying for more is leading to a mad rat race where everyone is running behind the “good life”.
Rustic life has been portrayed as fulfilling and happy. A villager is happy and leads a good life, but that is also subjective. The life of a farmer is full of strife. He often encountered various challenges in his field, like bad weather and other factors that negatively affected his yield. Despite hard work, low yield disheartened him and jeopardised his future plans. A farmer’s good and happy life is, thus, a good yield and a better price of his produce with minimal or no difficulty. Nothing is better than getting adequately rewarded for one’s labour. It gives immense happiness and self-satisfaction, besides a boost for further work. It is the best thing one can get. It lies not in money or material things but in the inner self.
The feeling of mine and thine is the cause of possessiveness. Sense of possessions or belonging is good to some extent. It fuels the urge to do better and excel. One loves one’s family and wants to do better for it. It is an urge to do something good for members of the family. It gives pleasure, but when it transforms into a hegemony of the chief, it is nothing less than hell. The narcissistic approach overshadows the good work and deprives it of natural happiness. It leads to the dispersal of a family. The true happiness is not in exerting authority but in inclusive growth, collective efforts and giving a feeling of being one to every member. If a tiff or difference, the best thing to do is to search for the root cause, find the black sheep and isolate it. The action should be quick and effective, lest it be late.
Ravana realised he was facing a formidable enemy who, though not properly equipped, was determined and resolute. His aides and some well-wishers advised him to change his ways and reach a compromise with the enemy, but he did not listen, nor did he remove the black sheep. His mendacious attitude doomed him. His real brother left him in the lurch and connived with his enemy, divulging many vital secrets which helped in his annihilation and death. His narcissistic approach made him deaf and dumb and caused a flourishing Lanka into debris of destruction. This was not the way to get happiness or a good life for him or his subjects.
Happiness and a good life are the two faces of the same coin. They are inseparable and go hand in hand. It is a mental state. Happiness, in a real sense, resides in the brain. One feels elevated and ecstatic about petty things. We often feel that our heart feels happy and buoyant for no specific reason, and vice versa. It is when one feels good and the world appears to be dancing. It is construed that happiness is not the slave of material wealth or money. Though they play a vital role in it.
Simple life and small things can also be a potential tool to make one happy. One need not follow it nor be frantic. The goal is to embrace small moments of happiness and gather them to create something significant. Vying for a big occasion and ignoring small moments of joy is not only a foolish idea, but also futile. Everyone is facing difficulties and impediments. The crux is to face them intrepidly and enjoy every moment. Life is not very long to waste on flimsy matters. It needs to be understood.
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