6 Things You Need for a Good Life
I’ve created a list of the few things I need to be happy in my life. Your list may have more or less, we’re all a little different, but chances are, you need less than you think.
1. Meaningful Friendships
I cannot imagine a good life without close relationships. While we need very little, one thing we do need is to love and be loved. This does not have to be a fairy tale story but one of trust, commitment, and mutual affection. If you have a few good friends in your life already, cherish them with everything you’ve got and invest in those relationships as if they were the best prospects you have— which they most certainly are.
2. A Sense of Purpose
Each of us longs to be useful in some capacity. We want to take up each day and know that we have something to do that will connect us to the world around us. Don’t get distracted by grand ambitions for what to do with your life. Finding a sense of purpose is not the same as finding a “passion,” as today’s society likes to call it. It’s more like taking up a responsibility or duty and doing it to the best of your ability.
3. Enough Food to Nourish Your Body
There’s so much advice about diets and health these days. At one level, the most foundational advice may be the deepest: We should all eat enough food—not too much or too little. If you can find that balance and apply a little common sense, you’re well on your way to a happy, energetic life.
4. Shelter for Safety and Rest
As a citizen of the United States, I’ve been bombarded with advertisements from a young age. It’s natural to form an image in your mind of what an ideal home should look like. While I’m an advocate of beauty in all its forms, it’s good to be reminded that a home’s primary purpose is to provide a safe place to rest away from the elements. If your home meets that standard, then you most certainly have enough.
5. Some Degree of Physical Health
This is a tricky one to write about because there are many people with poorer health than they would hope for. Though I haven’t experienced poor health firsthand, I’ve seen and have empathy for the way it can wreck someone’s life. I’ve also been inspired by people with health far worse than mine and seemingly more joy in their hearts. Those are the examples I aspire toward while not taking any amount of good health for granted.
6. Time to Think and Act
Most of us don’t need more money or the things that money can buy, like material goods or experiences. We have astounding abundance compared to the vast majority of humans who live on this planet. However, one thing we don’t necessarily have more of is time. One reason I practice minimalism is that I recognize that deep scarcity—I can’t buy more time—I can only steward and protect the unknown quantity I’ve been gifted.
7. Something to Hope for
I’ll end with what is perhaps the most important thing that anyone can possess: hope. For many, myself included, our hope is found in our faith and the prospects of a world that will someday be made right. No matter what you believe, we cannot live without hope for the future. At the very least, we cannot live well or with joy deep in our hearts. Hope carries us through hard times and provides warmth in our souls.
