A best friend recently told me, “I feel like quitting. I’m tired of of being told things will work out in the future, that relief is out there somewhere. Just give me the keys. Drive away. Leave everything behind.”
And then I told him the amazing turnaround story of Edwin Booth, the brother of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth.
If anyone could ever justify quitting, it was Edwin Booth.
The question: How can one know they are living their best life?
A boost of joy when settling the question of all questions/Unsplash
Oscar Wilde, Aristotle, Buddah and Jesus weighed in.
Many have studied and followed these guides.
They offer different advice for . . .
love
work
suffering
death
So, choose wisely or the result can be disastrous.
The most popular humanities course at Yale University explores them and others in a class entitled, “Life Worth Living.” Multiple professors teach it.
They compare how the great philosophies answer this question, How can one know they are living their best life? What makes life worth living? What’s worth pursuing? Is what we desire worth it? How does one know they are on the best track to flourish?
Bliss eludes many because they have not discovered what backup singers know.
The 2013 documentary, 20 Feet from Stardom, tracks why backup singers are happier than ones in the spotlight.
At first, one may believe these folks didn’t “make it” even though their talent is amazing. That, somehow, work in the background is less than work in the limelight.
But, these marvelous singers show how “enough” is the liberating key for true bliss.