The Good Life

Those words mean many different things to everyone. I'll betcha the first thing it means to most is wealth. I'd hafta agree to that too. Hell, I've been sorta kinda rich before, and I've been dirt poor more times that that. And lemme tellya....rich is better, mucho better!

But now as I am more aware and respectful of the law of gravity and such binding abuttments to my posture, I just may be of a different mind.

The good life is not necessarily wealth and is not necessarily being debt free either. The good life is being able to sleep at night without the aid of a medicine to put me there. If I have a night-cap, it's because I want the taste of it, not that I need it. And having it around for that is wealth to me. A good drink at the proper time is high living to me. I'm partial to a bourbon but, I wouldn't kick any other liquor, liqueur, wine, or beer out of my place. They all have their specialties, you'd hafta agree. They can enhance the mood you're in, or change it if that's what you want! I don't care for cigarettes, they'll killya quicker than a rabid mother-in-law. But a good cigar or pull of smoke on a pipe, with the right accoutrement of drink will ease a worried and troubled mind.

The good life consists of a feeling of having done a job well. A man, and a woman, needs to have that feeling of accomplishment, they need to be recognized for it. Yeah, it can be an ego thing. I pity the ones that feel like their job is a dead end. Look at your job. What makes you so important to IT? If you can't answer that, I feel sorry for you. I'm not implying that what I do is the end all to world hunger or the answer to the meaning of life. But I make sure that when I'm finished with a job, it's as perfect as it can be and my name is on it. That is wealth to me, a job well done. I have job referrals from when I first started my business 30 years ago.

The good life is being in a holiday season and taking the time to look back at your life. Holidays don't mean to me what they once did. Hell, for years I didn't have any use for them. Now I see I was wrong. I can't make up for that mistake. I can only make good use of what I have now. So as I sit in my den and puff a Puro and sip Porto, I watch the multi-colored lights dance across the mantel. I re-read the stockings I just made and hung for my grand-kids there. I'll stuff them with candy and those toys from the dollar store. I'll put nickels in them instead of dimes, because all kids know a nickel is worth more because it's bigger than a dime. Right now I have 3 candles going and they smell good. I did good when I took Oprah's advice and lit same scented candles instead of trying to make a smorgasborg of pine forests and fresh rain.

The good life is having friends that call and check up on me, and don't mind it or think I want something from them when I do the same. No one calls me, but I'm just saying, I just know if I had friends, it be kick-ass good living for it to be that way.

And, the good life is NOT allot of other things too. Grudges. Demanding a fight instead of calmly walking away, THAT'S strength, not how hard you can hit someone, or how slanderous you can be to their reputation when they don't even know they're being talked about. Remember when someone would say, "Act your age, not your shoe size?" Well, it was said. Too bad feet do not keep growing as we age. Advanced age is not an indicator to that maturity either.

The "good life" is part of being able to smile at yourself. Knowing that you did try as much as you could. Knowing that you won't have to look back and wonder what could have been.....Doing what you have to do because it's the right thing.

It's too bad that most thoughts like these are usually only around once a year. Just in time for that list of New Years resolutions. The good life might be not having a big list for that.

Comments

[Dash]

Just found you through Sam at The Brier Patch. Good stuff.

[Sheryl]

well spoken... well written... can actually see you sitting there - perhaps on the patio - being introspective...

if i didn't think this way all year long, i would be placing myself into that category critically termed as "state employee"... i have had (not so young now) former coworkers that when they see me, make the point of telling me that i was one of the best supervisor/manager they ever had...that they learned so much from me... their simple words of kindness make me feel that i have accomplished everything...

keep writing... your views are well thought out and interesting ... go forward young man :)

[BeeBee]

The was one damn good post. I wish sometimes I could get a funnel and poor all of this into the brains of some people I know in my life. But it wouldn't do any good would it? People have to learn on their own what's important.