Instead of making New Year’s Resolutions, I’ve decided to share with you our life resolution. It’s nothing new. In fact the ancient Greek philosophers wrote extensively on it. This noble life goal is Eudemonia, or the Good Life. It’s not the rich life, nor the popular. You won’t find it in a steak dinner and certainly not in those freshly manicured nails. It’s the sort of happiness that creeps in over time and defines your life as a whole. It is the complete life.
I say this, because I’m currently at home with a fever, feeling absolutely miserable. Yet I’m still overwhelmingly happy, and not in the ‘I’ve won the lottery’ kind of way. I feel just as happy snorkeling in Aruba as I do shoveling snow in Indiana. Every morning I wake up thinking that Malakai and I have to be the happiest couple in the world. How else can planning how we will spend our last 10 dollars be so much fun? How else can taking turns sitting on our only chair in our apartment be so delightful? Five years in, we still hold hands as we fall asleep. We still describe our midnight trips to the grocery store as epic. And I’d still rather be poor with him than rich with anyone else.
If this isn’t the Eudemonic Life, I don’t know what is.
May your coming year be filled with the same kind of happiness that we enjoy now.
I say this, because I’m currently at home with a fever, feeling absolutely miserable. Yet I’m still overwhelmingly happy, and not in the ‘I’ve won the lottery’ kind of way. I feel just as happy snorkeling in Aruba as I do shoveling snow in Indiana. Every morning I wake up thinking that Malakai and I have to be the happiest couple in the world. How else can planning how we will spend our last 10 dollars be so much fun? How else can taking turns sitting on our only chair in our apartment be so delightful? Five years in, we still hold hands as we fall asleep. We still describe our midnight trips to the grocery store as epic. And I’d still rather be poor with him than rich with anyone else.
If this isn’t the Eudemonic Life, I don’t know what is.
May your coming year be filled with the same kind of happiness that we enjoy now.