The Meaning of Choosing (A Good) Life

Letter to Romans: The great actor & always recovering alcoholic, Anthony Hopkins, gave a New Year’s piece of advice for the ages when he counseled us to simply “choose life.” Yet, where will we find it?

To be sure, as Sir Hopkins suggests, we won’t find life, at least one worth living, in recreational alcohol or narcotics. Nor will we find it in excessive wealth, lust, greed or any of the earthly sins. War and crime have been proven to lead to death and ruination. So has engaging in revenge, fanaticism, self-flagellation or negative philosophies.

We could go on about what a good life does NOT look like. But we could wax even longer on what it DOES reflect, simply by recalling the virtues Jesus expressed in His Sermon on the Mount: Among others, a commitment to humility, mercy, good faith and seeking justice for all. Passion and endless love is certainly extolled by the wisest bards, perhaps best exemplified in finding a soulmate to share your life. Balance & moderation work too. Contributing to the human condition, one day leaving this earth a better place than the one you were born into, is also universally considered a baseline good life. Others might say it’s simply a matter of waking up each morning excited to smell the coffee, grateful for and looking forward to the chance to do something, anything constructive if not downright good.

In the end then and perhaps any way it’s sliced, life isn’t about luck, it’s about choices.

Davd Soul