LIving A Full LIfe

What does living a full life mean? This question has many different answers and is dependent on the individual. From reading Thoreau, I saw his views on how to live a good life. It’s comes down to what we actually need, not want, in order to live a fully awake and complete life. We have to deal with the obstacles that our put in our way, understand the Sublime, and in the end be happy with ourselves.

I don’t need a lot or ask for a lot, but there are several things. For one, I need people that love me in order to have a full life. Family is the most important thing to me and without them, I can’t say that I would be living an engaged life. I am positive that without someone in my life that gave me love and support, I would be absolutely miserable. As a matter of fact, I think that most people would be rather miserable.

Second, I need communication. I can’t be shut off from the world with no one to converse with. Communication is key…it makes you feel emotion. Whether you are happy or sad or angry, communication brings all of these emotions out. Too many people walk around with their emotions bottled up. Personally, I think it’s a bad idea. What ends up happening is these people eventually burst, and often on an innocent bystander. I know that a person can only take so much before they break, and each one of us has our own breaking point. However, if you talk about problems when they arise, then they don’t mound up and eventually lead to an explosion. I am a firm believer in communicating, and this is another reason why I would need communication in order to live a full, complete, fully awake, aware, and engaged life.

Music is very important in my life as well. It goes along with the emotions. Music can make you feel so many things. It can be inspirational, motivating, or depressing. Either way, as humans we need to feel these emotions. It’s all part of human life. I also need activities. I love to stay busy and go out and do things. You’re only young once, so why not enjoy it. I like interacting with nature in particular. Nature is a beautiful thing that provides multiple benefits, and so many of us are destroying the ecosystem. If we all just do something small, it pays off in the end. The reward is so beneficial. If we stay on the same path that we are on now, the Earth and ecosystem will be so polluted. It will be a horrible environment to bring another generation in to.

As far as materialistic items, I need to have a computer with the Internet. If I am ever looking for something to do, I can always surf the Internet. Or sometimes when I’m wondering the answer to a question, I can just look it up on the Internet. And of course, electricity and running water are absolutely necessary. For miscellaneous items, I can deal without. Obviously they are a convenience item, but not necessarily a necessary item. I think that a lot of people have problems differentiating between their wants and their needs. It’s not all the materialistic things that make you happy…they just entertain you. If we all established what we needed to survive, we would all be a lot happier.