The Measure of a Life Well Lived

     As thoughts turn to the coming new year it's hard not to reflect upon what has gone before. The question of whether you are living life well nags us all, though not everyone will admit it, even to themselves.

     If you do a search with my preferred search engine Duck, Duck, Go on the phrase "Life Well Lived" you come across plenty of inspirational quotes and pictures:

  “If you can fall in love again and again… if you can forgive as well as forget, if you can keep from growing sour, surly, bitter and cynical… you’ve got it half licked.”--Henry Miller

     Not sure if they are any solace, especially if upon further inspection you are none too happy with you life. But who IS happy all the time? Certainly not the rich people, as they are always afraid of losing their wealth and being forced to live a life of extreme want. Probably best to set you sights high but accept the inevitable fact you are going to have some blue days, as well as some terrible days. That's just how life works. Here's one description I'll do my level best to avoid:

   "Those who are truly decrepit, living corpses, so to speak, are the middle-aged, middle class men and women who are stuck in their comfortable grooves and imagine that the status quo will last forever or else are so frightened it won’t that they have retreated into their mental bomb shelters to wait it out." --Henry Miller

     #LovingKindness is the hashtag I saw on the Internet last year which reminds me of the frame of mind to keep whenever you feel like criticizing someone who hasn't had all your advantages. A pithy version of the opening lines to one of my favorite novels, The Great Gatsby:

     "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

     Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, he told me, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."