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How would you know if your life was fulfilling?

Know yourself, know your surroundings, be skeptical of everything, and make an effort to rule yourself logically

By sara trifPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
How would you know if your life was fulfilling?
Photo by Giulia Bertelli on Unsplash

Think about your funeral.

And inside the casket is your dead body.

Unlike most people, you made sure to lead a fulfilling life. You passed away content with everything because you had a 9 to 5 job, a house, and a loving family.

However, your pals are also present and talking about you.

They disagree and talk about the side of you that no one knew. They recall you as a horrible person. They only discuss how miserable your life was.

Or perhaps you thought your life was squandered, while everyone else thought it was fantastic (assuming from your social media feeds).

So how would you know if your life was fulfilling? Or perhaps a better query is: What makes for a pleasant life?

In order to respond to this issue, we must first decide whether the value of a life is based on how you felt about it or how other people felt about it.

Which of these two choices do you believe is the best choice?

Do you even have the right inquiries?

Is the life you are currently living worthwhile? What should you be doing at this moment? What are your life objectives, and are they even worthwhile?

In other words, the decisions you make now about how you spend your time will influence the kind of life you lead in the future.

The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates made the forceful assertion that "the unexamined life is not worth living," for which he was poisoned to death. He was held guilty of corrupting the young of Athens by inducing them to reason their thoughts.

Socrates basically held that there is a right way to be a better human being and that you can only develop by finding that road. He also believed in the existence of human essence. So, pursuing information is part of living a good human life.

Know yourself, know your surroundings, be skeptical of everything, and make an effort to rule yourself logically. To improve yourself, seek out the answers and then work to implement them.

He believes that underachievers and those who give up "cannot live good lives."

He also held the view that some lifestyles are better than others. As a result, conscious decision-making is required if you want to be a good person.

It all boils down to decision-making and asking fundamental questions like:

  • Who should you retain as company?
  • How should I behave around others?
  • What to do with your time?
  • How should I spend my money?
  • How should you speak to your children?
  • What if what you decided to do in your life is not worthwhile? And who gets to decide whether your choices are good or bad?

Let's discuss the Sisyphus story from ancient Greece to address that topic.

The Gods sentenced Sisyphus to roll a boulder up a mountain as punishment for various sins he had committed. When he got to the top, the boulder would roll back down, forcing him to start over from scratch.

He spent all of his time doing nothing but rolling the boulder up a mountain. It was just an endless circle going up and down the slope.

But French philosopher Albert Camus, who lived in the 20th century, recalled that and stated, "We must imagine Sisyphus joyful."

Yes, "Happy" is exactly what you read!

Actually, existentialist Camus emphasized that each of you is essentially Sisyphus. Nothing you accomplish in this life has any intrinsic significance since everything has a purpose. Rolling boulders up slopes is all you are doing. Each and every day and night.

However, you have the option to give your actions significance.

Since you choose what to value, anything you put your full effort into will acquire the meaning you give it.

Some individuals think the Sisyphus narrative is quite gloomy because it implies that nothing you accomplish matters. Which is another way of saying "whatever you do matters, but only if you choose to imbue it with worth," but with a half-full glass.

Choose a career in medicine to save lives.

Spend time promoting a subject you care about or volunteering your time to help folks you know need it.

Even if you choose to stay at home with your children and give them a wonderful upbringing.

Be a fantastic employer, worker, or friend.

If you're a businessperson and decide to focus all of your efforts on accumulating wealth.

Become a world-class athlete and go to the Olympics to represent your nation.

Feed animals.

What you choose to do is irrelevant. What counts is the interpretation you give it.

The essentialist thesis asserts that you are ultimately responsible for your life and your choices. Only you have the ability to determine if your life is excellent or not, and only you can judge how amazing it is.

What if you decide to indulge in your own pleasures or become a couch potato? If you have to give it purpose, do you consider it to be a decent life after giving it purpose?

Let's look at Joanne Ciulla's responses to that to provide an answer (American philosopher). She provides you with the answers to those queries and challenges you to consider your work's guiding principles.

You're going to spend more time at work than anywhere else, she said. Find a career you love, but if you don't enjoy it, change to something less important.

The best job may not always be the one with the highest salary.

In essence, existentialists simplify everything by asserting that you are in control of your own lives. Therefore, if you're not happy, modify it.

The only person who can make your life better is you.

And only You are able to judge its magnificence.

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