Have you ever been taking a few days of unexpected leisure, enjoying an extended vacation or living in an especially beautiful locale? If so, did anyone come up to you and say something like, “So, you’re enjoying the good life, huh?” And perhaps you responded with, “Well, yes I guess so.”
But did you ever stop and think about what made those few days, that extra week or that prime living spot the good life. Was it really good at that point but everything leading up to that moment was not so great? I doubt it. Sure, you were in a wonderful, restful or inspiring place or time of life, but I doubt if you were finally encontering a good life after years, even decades of an all bad life.
You see, I wonder if we’ve become confused about what makes life particularly good at a given juncture. Is it possible that we’re mixing up good with enjoyable, plush, a lack of formal work or activity, a limited schedule or even extra or ample resources?
For those of you from a faith background, you know what I mean when I say that I regularly hear well-meaning Christians talk about something wonderful, even miraculous happening to them and they then say, God is good. And my response, at least inwardly is, “Well, of course He is good, but He was good before your pleasant fortunes occurred. He’s good even when life seems terrible and life isn’t working as we’d hoped it would.”
So what might better represent a good life? I’m confident that there is no one set of circumstances or outcomes but I do think there are a few principles or realities worth mentioning that make life good.
Life is good when we are truly thankful for what we have. Thankfulness means that we’re not constantly wishing for more, that we can still have gratitude for the blessings all around us – family, friends, faith, a home, a job, etc. – even when other areas are a bit out of control, even desperate.
Life is good when we still see God in the world around us. We still see His majesty in creation, in life, in the fact that we can take another breath and live for another day.
Life is also good when we are growing, changing, being stretched and trying new things to become a better person. Want to really life the bad life? Quit getting better.
And life is good when we sense that we’re living out our purpose, using our gifts and sharing our resources as meager as they may seem. People who have discovered their purpose or purposes, the thing that makes them feel whole again, truly live the good life.
So if you’ve been waiting and wish for the good life, look again. It might just be the life you’ve either been living for a long time or the one right next to you waiting for you to begin.
NeverQuitClimbing 