The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge. ~ Bertrand Russell

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So, here we all are. Like it or not, we have been given one life to live. One set of years we call our own. One life…on our planet called Earth.

We all are born. We all live our one life. We all eventually die.

If you are a religious person, which many are, we try to make some sense of this life by comparing it to a much better life beyond this one.

If you are not of a religious persuasion, you, most likely, take this one life you’ve been given and live it, hopefully, to the full as best you can.

In truth, most of us, religious or not, are hoping to find the good life before we die.

What about you?

As you sit here today, reading my words, how is your pursuit of the good life progressing?

Sadly, most of us try our best to reach for the good life, but like sand escaping through the fingers of a cupped hand, our dreams of reaching our goal become more distant with every day that passes.

But wait.

Before you get discouraged, let me remind you…

As we look through the history of mankind, there always seems to be a special group of people who stand out, not because of their ability to gain the good life, but by their sacrificial desire to live a life of good.

Here are a few names that come to mind when thinking of women and men who pursued good when others around them were choosing a much lesser target.

Mother Theresa

Fred Rogers

Martin Luther King

Abraham Lincoln

Nelson Mandela

Albert Einstein

Helen Keller

Mahatma Gandhi

Ignatius of Loyola

Winston Churchill

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Buddha

Harriet Tubman

Confucius

Leo Tolstoy

Billy Graham

St. Francis of Assisi

Desmond Tutu

What other names would you add to this list?

As I see it, these names represent the very best of humankind. Men and women who chose wisely, living lives of purpose and meaning…finding significance not by pursuing the good life, but by choosing to live a life of good.

What about you? What are you pursuing today?

The good life?

Or a life of good?

Now, don’t get me wrong. You and I can be pursuers of both. But sadly, as so many people work so very hard to find the good life, they often forget the importance of doing good along the way.

I guess, for me, that’s why it’s so very important to pay attention to others who have gone before us, learning their secrets to living a life of good. As I see it, if you and I can become more intentional in our pursuit of good, maybe, just maybe, the world might become a better place. And, we just might find ourselves being a bit happier with the good fruit we’re discovering in our lives as well.

So, do you want to keep going on A Journey Into Good? Keep reading.

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