Eva Bradley: Pursuit of a 'good life' is impossible

Eva Bradley

MOST of us will agree with the theory that we only get one life, so we should make it a good one.

But to follow that principle you first have to establish in your own mind exactly what you believe a good life is.

Is it being a good person ... treating others like you would like to be treated yourself? Is it achieving your potential, or helping others do it?

You could interpret it more literally and pursue a path of physical "goodness" from diet and exercise or seek out spiritual and emotional "goodness" instead.

For reasons I'm not exactly clear about, I've decided it is time for a reset and to seek out a little bit of the good life. A few weeks into this growing self-awareness, though, and I am feeling exhausted simply wondering where to begin.

The reality is, there are so many ways we could and maybe should be good that even if you devoted your life to it, it's unlikely you would nail it.

Throw in a normal first-world existence in the 21st century and your chances of even being a teeny bit good are middling to none.

I know personally that there are dozens of things I could do to alleviate the "bad" elements in my life that offset my pursuit (or my time for the pursuit) of the good. For a start, I need to slow down.

Don't we all.

Just this week I was reading a scientifically minded article about the physiological and neurobiological dangers of multi-tasking. So called "developments" in technology mean we are now taking in around five times more information in a day than we did only 25 years ago.

Given the human brain has evolved and adapted to change over millions of years, stepping up our game this much in this short time span is clearly going to come at a cost.

And we see it in ourselves and around us every day. Normal people are stressed out and exhausted. Others are waving guns around at McDonald's and paying the ultimate price.

Combined with the information and expectation overload, we are also in an age where our nutrition has taken a nose-dive thanks to convenience eating and processed foods.

The real and emotionally nurturing social networks of old have been replaced by computer-based ones that are less about the realities of a good life and more about the perception.

If you judged humanity's overall happiness by looking at our collective newsfeeds you'd have no idea that globally more than 350 million people are suffering from depression.

So there you have it - how on earth to be "good" when it seems like there is so much "bad" to overcome first?

I've decided that the secret lies in low expectations and small changes.

If you set the bar too high, you'll simply never reach it and you'll give up entirely.

To address my spiritual and emotional goodness, I've simply started by taking an extra day off during the week to spend with my son. I suspect when I'm 80 it will be the time spent with him I'll wish I'd had more of rather than the cash from a few extra jobs.

Physically, I'm just making one small shift so far and drinking eight glasses of water every day. The gym three days a week can come later ... or maybe never.

I have a long way to go before I'll feel I'm really living the good life, but for now as the saying goes, near enough is good enough.

-Eva Bradley is a columnist and photographer.