The 6 Hallmarks Of A Good Life

Link to Original Picture on Pixabay

You did what you set out to do.  You did what you really really really set out to do.  It might not have brought you fame, or extra bucks, made you look good, put you in a higher income bracket, or wealth bracket, propelled you into higher social circles. But it brought you peace and a sense you were doing the right thing for the right reasons. You learned, you played, you won, you lost; you acquired resilience, and you gained insights and found your stride along the way.  Most of all, you grew as a person and achieved mastery in several areas of life, including over yourself.

You played fair.  You didn’t step over people to get what you want.  You didn’t undercut anyone.  Steal anyone’s thunder. Take unfair swings at anyone. Make other people look bad in order to look good. Undermine any one’s confidence. You played fair.

You were authentic.  You were the real deal.  You lived and spoke the truth.  You did not manipulate people and hide things from them or make them think things about you which were not true.  You were courageous and did not let “what will people think?” get in the way of “is this the honest, forthright thing to do?”  You were not so power-hungry or stubbornly prideful, that you brushed things under the carpet until it was convenient. Even if there was a time when you were that way, you became self-aware and then you became repentant and real.  You not only became the real deal, but learned to appreciate yourself as the real deal, as Alan Watts tells us to do in this extremely inspirational video The Real You.

You made more people happy than sad.  You did not say things or do things that diminished the people around you. You did not subject them to your tantrums, your whims and moods, your criticism and nagging. You had fun within the definition of responsibility and accountability. You knew your boundaries.  If you were a rogue angel for a while, you had a change of heart and became a person who was easy to love. You acquired responsibility. Patience.  Tolerance.  Acceptance. Forgiveness. You went from someone who pulled people down to becoming a positive life-affirming force.  A peace bringer.  A hope spreader.  An anxiety salver. You added to the world’s stock of happiness and positive energy – which it needs to move forward.

You grew in wisdom. You understood wisdom was different from knowledge. It made you humbler and able to see things for what they are. You gave up the illusion of control and realized there was much money and status could not buy. You discovered cleverness, strategy and resources did not always lead to victory. And rather than throw good energy after bad (“I have to win at all costs”), you decided to kick back and set new goals for yourself, such as the goal of learning to be more loving, learning to appreciate victories, big and small, even those that weren't your own, becoming more flexible and open, and learning to look for the rainbow behind every thunderstorm. Wisdom gave you a sense of perspective and made you realize there was more power and pleasure in experiencing a transformative change and in ideas and thought control, than there is value in gold, silver and diamonds.

You made the world a better place.  You created something out of nothing. You made things possible for people. You created opportunities. You helped people follow their dreams. You were a role model. You made people feel valued and cared for. You did small things that made a difference. You gave your best – in your work, in your relationships, in the causes you were involved in, in the ideas you brought forth.

If you can say yes to any of this, hopefully all of this, you can take pride in the legacy of a life well-lived.  If you are on the right track, keep going. Don’t second guess yourself by comparing yourself to anyone else.

P.S.  Dear Reader, hope you enjoyed this post about the hallmarks of a good life. This is not a definitive list of the hallmarks of a good life.  It is just a list to make you stop and think about what you believe are the hallmarks of a good life. Thanks for reading and have a great day and week...M, a Pearl-Seeker like you.