YES, It is possible to be Happy, Healthy and Purposeful.
Now that I have your attention, I would like to help you understand what it takes. Many look to specifics including:
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material possessions
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friends
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family
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power
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wealth
Although everything mentioned on this short list may create an emotional response, they are unlikely to achieve the goal. To clarify this point, the diabetic that injects insulin into their body will create a positive change, but will not become diabetic free. We have a tendency to search our external environment for the tools needed to find good health, happiness and purposeful living. We find bookstores (I’m old fashioned; I probably should have said “Kindle) with motivational writings to change our lives with step by step instructions. We have seminars with speakers that outline the “methods” necessary to achieving lifetime goals. We have religious institutions that direct us to the bible to hear the words of God to help us find our paths in life. Although all of these sources can enrich our lives by adding new meaning they don’t seem to offer enough to satisfy everyone’s attempt to achieve a Happy, Healthy and Purposeful life.
Anyone, anything or any event or activity that adds a positive experience to life should be viewed as a tool in one’s arsenal. We are a complicated society with diversified wants and needs. Attempting to create “a game plan” that satisfies all needs will lead to a vanishing trail. At the start the vision is clear. We see a well defined pathway until reality confronts us with a fog that becomes so thick, it becomes impossible to navigate the trail with all its optional forks to choose from.
There is only one place I am aware of that offers the ability to find Happiness, Good Health and Purposeful living FOR EVERYONE. It provides a true foundation and encourages oneself to seek personal growth. Using this source as a reference point, one can then turn to all “outside” sources of positive thinking and actions to help reinforce our foundation providing an arsenal filled with backup support. This one place, this reference point I talk about is known as our
SOUL
This is the undiscovered place where all our answers reside. It is the essence of who we are as well as the potential of what we can become. It is a place many fear to travel because it reveals our entire being. It is a place, however, necessary to seek to achieve Happiness, Good Health and Purposeful Living.
The Soul is amorphous (without shape). This, in itself is purposeful. It allows us to adapt to changes we go through as we develop and grow on our journey through life. Distraction becomes its biggest enemy. As we shift our focus from the inner foundation to the “tasty delights” of the material world, we tend to shift our thought process from BALANCED and GROUNDED to CAREFREE and NEEDY. Emotions take us to a place where our “wants” become our “critical need.” It is a place where we REACT to our environmental stimuli rather than RESPOND to it. This is the place many people find themselves living today. It is a difficult place to escape from, because it provides a constant source of temporary gratification ultimately leading us further and further away from our true source of strength, our
SOUL
The beauty of knowing that the answers already reside within our souls should add comfort to everyone’s life. Temptations to temporary gratifications are shifted as we transition our thought process from material happiness to inner happiness. It may be difficult in the beginning just like anything we have little experience with. As we continue to search for answers, our soul slowly strengthens and provides answers upon which actions can be taken. We begin feeling an inner sense of peace. With this new understanding we develop an ability to approach life from a happier, healthier and more purposeful direction. As we bring the material world back into our lives, it no longer creates distraction and temptation, but rather adds to our arsenal of pleasurable positive experiences that we can now control. Once you can see life from this perspective, it becomes possible to live a Happy, Healthy and Purposeful Life.
All About Healthy Choices 
Loved this post! Strangely enough, I planned out my posts for the week and one of them includes that exact Socrates quote.
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Thank you for the positive response. I hope people can use this information to achieve new levels of personal gain, growth and development.
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I used to think that to be happy I had to have things. Then I lived the life of a Fat person and realised that all I wanted was love, friendship and happiness. Nothing else matters really.
Wealth is nice but it isn’t the be all and end all.
Material goods are nice but if you put as much effort into unlocking something as you did into liking it in the first place, it’s incredible how quickly you realise you don’t actually need it….
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As we become more comfortable with who we truly are we develop the foundation necessary to achieving real happiness and fulfillment. The material objects then become “additions” to our lives that enhance rather than consume our lives.
Glad to see you have learned from these lessons and continue to achieve new levels of happiness, good health and purposeful living.
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Amen to that!
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I like your approach
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I appreciate your feedback. Thank you for taking your time to read this article.
Stay healthy and happy.
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Beautiful post. You have my vote. 🙂
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Thank you. Sometimes a post is already conceived in the brain before it is written (or typed) with the hand. This is how it felt as I wrote this one. Thanks for the vote!
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It’s funny how as we navigate through life and start getting those things we thought would make us happy, we realize it’s really not about “things” at all. So many distraction though like you say that make us forget this. Oh I too love real books, even though I’m typing this on my iPad…;)
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In my opinion, those who become aware that “things” are not the foundation upon which happiness, good health and purpose are built are likely to develop their own personal skills for achieving these goals.
Thank you for adding your opinion. I have found that readers care just as much about people’s comments as they do the articles themselves. I think it creates a greater reality about the issues and the way the general public view and handle them.
It looks like you and I have an enormous responsibility keeping all the little book stores in business. 🙂 We are dinosaurs among a dying breed.
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So true about the comments, I always enjoy reading them but of course it adds another thing to my list of things I’d rather be doing but have little time for. 😉 I know, us dinosaur book readers have much work to do!
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It is difficult to shift our thoughts from material happiness to inner happiness. But definitely, if we are looking for a Purposeful Life, the shift is essential.
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Well said. I couldn’t agree more. Recognizing the “cob webs” we get caught in as the stress levels in our lives elevate helps us recognize that “cob webs” are thin easily compromised structures that simply “feel” worse than they are. To view life in this context helps people realize that problems, like cob webs, are easily compromised with relatively little effort. These problems also “feel” worse than they likely are. A new approach helps minimize future problems and creates greater health, happiness and a reason for purposeful living.
Thank you so much for contributing to this discussion.
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One of my favorite posts of yours! Feeding the soul can be so much more satisfying and a lot healthier than gorging on the physical wants – such as food, bad habits and temptations. Balance is the key, for the physical and the spiritual can live happily ever after through self discipline and conscious efforts. Such FANTASTIC writing; truly superb! I enjoyed every word.
The Socrates quote struck me, as well, in its message of balancing the new and the old. Beautiful!!
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Thank you Rose. I am going to approach health, healthy living and happiness from every angle I can to find the catalyst to start the wheels turning in as many brains as I can. All I want is for people to experience the joys that this type of lifestyle offers. If they choose another. so be it. I just want to be a part of their moment of “shining light” and know they achieved good health and happiness, because so many go through life never having this moment.
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I’m not religious and don’t necessarily believe in “souls,” but the essence of your message rings true for me. Great life lessons, as usual 🙂
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Feel free to substitute the word “soul” with innate intelligence. This is the term that was used when I was in college learning about the structure and function of the human body. This is a force or energy that keeps the whole engine running without our cognitive brain to guide the process. There is nothing in life that duplicates its abilities.
Glad to see a positive more giving self in your posts. I even saw you use the word patience! Very proud of you.
Stay healthy and happy!
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