Sadly, majority of people are not truly fulfilled in life. This is the single most common problem most people – rich, poor, educated, non-educated, religious, and non-religious alike – face in life. It is also the most dangerous!
By the way, what is your idea of a fulfilling life? And on a scale of 1 to 10 (least to most) how truly fulfilled are you? And how truly fulfilled do you think you will be in the near to distant future?
Do not take – or mistake – academic laurels, high position in society, high income levels, modernity, religiosity, and the likes for a fulfilling life; many people have all that and more and are still not fulfilled in life; well, they are not truly fulfilled! As you will soon see in the examples I will be giving. In any case, notice that the question is not just about a fulfilling life (that is subjective) but rather about a truly fulfilling life! Yes, there is a big difference!
A survey carried out for the BBC in 2006 revealed that only 36 percent of Britons describe themselves as very happy compared to 52 percent in 1957. According to research carried out by Cambridge University a few years ago, “Although Europeans at the time of evaluation were generally 4 times wealthier than their fathers and grandfathers, their levels of happiness were either equal to, or less than that of their fathers and grandfathers 40 years ago.”
Today, the situation is not significantly different. There are three main degrees of happiness in life: the highest level is The Meaningful Life, then we have The Good Life, and the lowest is The Pleasant Life. It is the Meaningful Life that gives true fulfilment in life.
More light will be thrown on the above classification in Chapter 4. Suffice it for now to note as follows…
Research shows that, even though each individual born into this world has the inborn capability to pursue and live The Meaningful Life, majority of people pursue The Pleasant Life, and in some cases The Good Life, which are generally classified together as the bottom because their combined value does not compare anywhere near that of The Meaningful Life. And those who pursue and get to live The Meaningful Life are very few indeed. And mind you, you do not stumble into The Meaningful Life; it is a deliberate path you choose with the guidance provided in Chapter 4. Without that, there is high probability that you may be pursuing The Pleasant Life; what majority of people are inadvertently pursuing. The following are some of the consequential and evidential manifestations…