The Moral Concepts Of Good And Evil In Life

Life is a unique blend of good and bad things and it is very easy to get diverted by the bad things in life. Nobody’s life is perfect in this world, despite the imperfection one must find a way to lead a good life. But what is the good life? The good life is a very broad concept that cannot simply be defined by a few words. There are endless and various definitions of this term. Everyone’s definition of a good life is different, based on their life experiences. What may be important to someone, may be insignificant to another. We all have goals or ideas of what we hope our lives will become. Perhaps it is to complete your bachelors or become a millionaire. Ultimately, we all must determine, for ourselves, what we want out of life.

Looking at the literal meaning of the phrase “the good life”, it clearly has a positive connotation. Adding ‘the’ to the beginning of the phrase makes it more. The word ‘good’ is an adjective that turns the concept of its noun into a positive one. The word ‘life’ is referring to the time between birth and death of a human being. When put all together, the literal meaning of the phrase is the happy, positive time between life and death of a person.

When looking at the lexical definition of the phrase “the good life”, it would generally mean that a person’s life experiences relatively little struggle and instead is comfortable. In society, I believe that most would include wealth, health, and happiness in the definition of the phrase. In normal discussion, “the good life” could mean the absence of stress and pain, physical or emotional.

When you actually ask someone to define “the good life”, they would take time to think about it. The specifics in one’s definition would show someone that their definition of the phrase may not match up with another’s definition. Everyone’s definition would be positive in their eyes, but someone’s definition may not be positive to another. For example, if one loves animals and their definition of the good life is with a lot of pets, then this definition may be perceived as negative to someone who doesn’t likes animals.

The “good life” to me means living a stable and happy life surrounded by people that care about me. Living a stable life is the lifestyle category that I consider to be in my good life definition. Stability to me is having one's basic needs, such as for food/water, shelter, and safety met. Without stability, human beings are always in a state of pursuit in order to have their most basic needs met. Human beings are so focused on basic survival that they never achieve the contentment necessary to have a 'good life.' For example, A homeless person is always worried about how he/she will eat, where he/she will sleep, and if he/she is safe on the streets. There isn't time or energy left for self-actualization because the individual lives in constant fear from the lack of basic stability in his/her life. Stability would bring structure to the “good life” If I were to imagine my life at a time when I would say “This is the good life,” I think that I would have rewarding career that isn’t draining and that I actually enjoy. I would earn money for doing something that I love, and that leaves a positive impact on others. I would truly be happy. This is “the good life” from my perspective, at this moment; it may change in the future after I gain more experiences, knowledge, and understanding of the world.

Though everyone’s definition of “the good life” is different, we all are reaching for something better in this life. I think with hard work, positivity, and dedication we all an reach to our “good life.”