[Neurons] 2022 Neurons #49 THE VALUES OF THE GOOD LIFE

[Michael Hall]

From: L. Michael Hall

2022 Neurons #49

November 28, 2022

Values Series #7

THE VALUES OF A GOOD LIFE

 

If you have a set of values that define for you what's important and what's
significant, at the same time you have a definition of the good life.  Now
how important is that?  It's very, very important.  Why?  Because most
people (yes, I know this is an over-generalization) do not have a clearly
articulated description of "the good life."  They certainly want it.  They
long for it.  They strive for it.  But if you asked them to express it or
write it down-they would not be able to do that with any level of
specificity.

 

Part of the reason lies in the fact that there are so many voices in today's
world seducing us into their version of "the good life."  Look at any
advertisement for just about anything-and the central message is, "Buy this,
experience this, achieve this, and you will have 'the good life.'" It seems
that the good life for most is defined almost exclusively in terms of
materialism-what you have or what you experience.  The good life are the
brand named clothes, jewelry, cars, homes, vacations, and on and on. 

 

Now obviously, the good life starts with material things-food, water,
shelter, safety, money, etc.  You have to have material things to survive,
to be safe, to have friends, work, etc.  But the truly crucial factors for
the good life are intangible.  At the lowest levels, it is being loved and
respected, engaged in significant job or task, using your best talents and
capacities, knowing that you count, etc.  Higher than that are the being
values-truth, beauty, justice, contribution, order, making a difference,
etc.  While the good life includes the D-level needs as survival values, it
mostly thrives in the B-level needs-the growth values.

 

As you live your life day by day and as you come to the end of your days,
the question becomes, "Has my life been well-lived?"  Ask that question, and
your check-list changes from all of the things you have done and things you
have accumulated to a check-list of the things that you have experienced and
contributed.  

              Have I made a difference?  Is the world better off because of
the way I lived?

              Have I loved, cared, and spread compassion to the people in my
life?

              Have I experienced challenge and used my gifts as fully as I
could?

              Have I learned and shared my learnings and wisdom with others?

 

With all of the value-confusion in today's world, it's important to know
what the good life is and how to live it.  

              Have I overcome limitations and risen above my circumstances?

              Have I suffered loss or hurt and found the resources within to
become resilient?

Have I assisted others to develop a champion attitude without expecting
anything in return or having an ulterior motive?

 

Abraham Maslow wrote about the good life in his books about Being Psychology
and Self-Actualization.  He spoke about it as "the value life" and
considered it the spiritual life, that is, a the life that genuinely and
healthily activates your inner spirit.

"If you don't have a value life, you may not be neurotic, but you suffer
from a cognitive and spiritual sickness, for to a certain extent your
relationship with reality is distorted and disturbed." (1971, p. 194) "To
live the spiritual life, you don't need to sit on top of a pillar for ten
years.  Being able to live in the B-values somehow makes the body and all
its appetites holy." (Ibid. p. 195)

                                           

What is the good life?  It is living from the inside-out.  That means that
when you are living the good life, you are self-governing, self-regulating,
make your own choices about life, being self-determining.  You are living
for those highest values-the being values: beautify, goodness, joy,
aliveness, uniqueness, respect, contribution, integration, etc.

 


  

 

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

ISNS Executive Director

P.O. Box 8

Clifton Colorado 81520 USA

(970) 523-7877

drhall at acsol.net  



 

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