3 Myths About Living The Good Life

3 Myths About Living The Good Life.

Everyone wants a good life. The question is, “What is a good life?” In my therapeutic experience, as common as this desire is, I have found that many times, we have inaccurate information about what a good life is—and, better yet, how to get it.

Myth 1: The Good Life is supposed to be easy.

The myth of an easy life is that it is a meaningless life. The truth is that a good life is often filled with challenges, obstacles, setbacks, and hard work. We often think that the good life will come to us when the stars align, fate smiles on us, or just by luck. We value what we have fought and sacrificed for. In fact, a good life may require more work rather than less. When we align our values with our work, we find that the cultivation of a good life is a reward in itself.

Myth 2: The Good Life will make you happy all the time.

As a good life is not easy, the myth that a good life is supposed to make you happy all the time is that this is an impossibility. If we are constantly chasing happiness, we are going to be constantly unhappy. The truth is that this is not how the world, or our brains work. Our brains and bodies are constantly cycling through moods and feeling states through out the day. If we are waiting for happiness to live a good life, we may be missing much our lives. If we face our feelings, we can develop our courage when we take the steps for a good life, even when we do not feel happy.

Myth 3: The Good Life is having it all, all the time.

Finally, having a good life means having it all, and all at the same time, is a myth because life is a set of tradeoffs. You can have many things you want, but not everything you want. The truth is that some things offer immediate short-term gratification but do not offer us long-term contentment. So, we choose the things the best over the things that appear to be good.

A happy life is constrained by a hierarchy of values. We must accept challenges that help us become better people and our highest selves. We are happier when we choose a life of value and meaning over the myths of the good life.