Jump to content

What is a "quality life"?


Recommended Posts

Lord Jade Cross

You often hear people throw this phrase around, how you should aim to have a life of quality but what does that really entail and is it even possible for the vast majority of people?

 

Can everyone have a job that doesnt require an hour long (or more) to and from job site commute? Can they all have affordable rent with basic services and needs met? Can they have a decent healthplan that doesnt spit in their face with having to pay an exhorbitant amount of money for anything other than a visit to your GP? Can everyone have a decent paying job instead of scrapping to get by each month?

 

I feel like we are often on this mental masturbatory fantasy when the reality of things is infinitely different for most. So why the insistence on the vague terms/ideals?

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I basically consider a life of quality to be one where both your health and wealth are in the right place.... I look at my life and because I live in Canada my health is taken care of (free health care). As for wealth, I am fortunate to both have a decent job and be single, so I'm comfortable, leaving enough money to invest and save. The rest, I believe is being able to enjoy your life, do the things you love. For me this is watch anime, TV shows and movies, both at the cinema and via streaming and secondly and also more importantly, be able to game to my hearts content in my spare time. The cherry on top is to have good relations with your family and have plenty of friends, which I am fortunate enough to have as well. As a result, I believe I am living a quality life. :)

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites
Black Tourmaline

this comes to mind for me (from one of my fave books "Pirkei Avot")


"Ben Zoma said:Who is wise? He who learns from every man, as it is said: “From all who taught me have I gained understanding”

 

Who is mighty? He who subdues his [evil] inclination, as it is said: “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that rules his spirit than he that takes a city”

 

Who is rich? He who rejoices in his lot, as it is said: “You shall enjoy the fruit of your labors, you shall be happy and you shall prosper”.  “You shall be happy” in this world, “and you shall prosper” in the world to come.

Who is he that is honored? He who honors his fellow human beings as it is said: “For I honor those that honor Me, but those who spurn Me shall be dishonored”...

 

Such is the way [of a life] of Torah: you shall eat bread with salt, and rationed water shall you drink; you shall sleep on the ground, your life will be one of privation, and in Torah shall you labor. If you do this, “Happy shall you be and it shall be good for you” "

 

 

 



 

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

I should have mentioned, getting in tune with yourself, accepting yourself, learning to love yourself, very very crucial to being happy, thereafter being satisfied with what you have while always hoping and striving for more, that will lead to a happy life, despite just health and wealth, there is a spiritual aspect to it as well like @Black Tourmalinehas just outlined. ^_^

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I've always seen "quality of life" as an indication that when choosing a job, there is more than just salary to consider.

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites
15 minutes ago, uhtred said:

I've always seen "quality of life" as an indication that when choosing a job, there is more than just salary to consider.

This is soooo true. Most people don't like what they do. I think I am blessed by the fact that I work within a job in which I deal with my favorite subject, computers and video games.

 

LG - Life's Good. 😎

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites
Lord Jade Cross
45 minutes ago, Calliers said:

This is soooo true. Most people don't like what they do. I think I am blessed by the fact that I work within a job in which I deal with my favorite subject, computers and video games.

 

LG - Life's Good. 😎

 

1 hour ago, uhtred said:

I've always seen "quality of life" as an indication that when choosing a job, there is more than just salary to consider.

I fear for many, its not much of a choice other than having the means to get by

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites
SorryNotSorry

Here in the US, most people I know personally are content to skulk along like vermin, and hope they don’t have the bad luck to have their already-precarious lives ruined by the corporate-1% ruling junta.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I stick to the idea that if you strip away a lot of the fluff, people don't need to much too be content or live a life that we could call objectively "quality." All you need are the basic principles to satisfy our basic primal facets.

 

Shelter, food, stimulus. That's it.  But this can be expanded on quite a bit. Not crap shelter with a leaky roof. A home that feels like a home and makes one feel safe. Access to the food you need that's consistent. Stimuli that's non-destructive, preferably. Hobbies, access to information and learning, fun and relaxation. This is objectively, a quality life.

 

No first world country has an adequate grasp of this because we live in extravagant excess and ease of access to almost everything. So society and companies in general like to push this narrative that you're never living your life to the fullest.

 

To really put this into perspective for you. One single dorito chip. It has more flavor and spices in it than something like 98% of every single person in the dark and middle ages would taste in their entire lifetime.

 

A quality life is the one that grants you access to the base needs of the human condition. 

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites
8 minutes ago, E said:

I stick to the idea that if you strip away a lot of the fluff, people don't need to much too be content or live a life that we could call objectively "quality." All you need are the basic principles to satisfy our basic primal facets.

 

Shelter, food, stimulus. That's it.  But this can be expanded on quite a bit. Not crap shelter with a leaky roof. A home that feels like a home and makes one feel safe. Access to the food you need that's consistent. Stimuli that's non-destructive, preferably. Hobbies, access to information and learning, fun and relaxation. This is objectively, a quality life.

 

No first world country has an adequate grasp of this because we live in extravagant excess and ease of access to almost everything. So society and companies in general like to push this narrative that you're never living your life to the fullest.

 

To really put this into perspective for you. One single dorito chip. It has more flavor and spices in it than something like 98% of every single person in the dark and middle ages would taste in their entire lifetime.

 

A quality life is the one that grants you access to the base needs of the human condition. 

 

 

Amen.... 🙏

Link to post
Share on other sites
what the face

Would add here,

 

A quality life is one lived

in accordance to one’s 

awoken, (sorry, but this term fits)

authentic,

purposeful, 

responsible 

way.

 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites
20 hours ago, Lord Jade Cross said:

You often hear people throw this phrase around, how you should aim to have a life of quality but what does that really entail and is it even possible for the vast majority of people?

 

Can everyone have a job that doesnt require an hour long (or more) to and from job site commute? Can they all have affordable rent with basic services and needs met? Can they have a decent healthplan that doesnt spit in their face with having to pay an exhorbitant amount of money for anything other than a visit to your GP? Can everyone have a decent paying job instead of scrapping to get by each month?

 

I feel like we are often on this mental masturbatory fantasy when the reality of things is infinitely different for most. So why the insistence on the vague terms/ideals?

Obviously this post was not a request for reading suggestions, but I would nonetheless have to recommend Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl. You have probably at least heard of him, a Holocaust survivor and founding influence in the field of psychology. I can't do a book justice in a one sentence paraphrase of course, but I think I'd kind of sum it up like ... the whole point of life for each of us is that we're supposed to find/create meaning for our own existence?

 

I mean, Frankl's ideas have their critics of course, and I think one central aspect of those criticisms may be that he had religious faith, so even his psychological/philosophical outlook was influenced by that. I wouldn't personally say that makes it useless to anyone who is not religious, though. The relevance to the question of this thread is that I think by one perspective, the answer would be that each of us has to define for ourselves what  "quality life" is.

 

If you define quality of life by particular economic benchmarks, then absolutely, that easily creates a demarcation of "quality life" that the vast majority of people won't be able to meet.

 

At base, are you kind of asking if a person's life has to be worthless, if they're poor? I would say no to that. But opinions differ, of course.

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites
Lord Jade Cross
4 hours ago, rebis said:

At base, are you kind of asking if a person's life has to be worthless, if they're poor? I would say no to that. But opinions differ, of course.

Not necceaarily. However I think it can be said with certain empirical evidence that a poor person has a severely limited pool of options to choose from in terms of how they can go about living, most of which end in a cycle of barely being able to survive, to die regardless at the end

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites
SorryNotSorry

To me, a quality life = not being anyone's bitch.

 

That one pisses off control freaks to no end.

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites
MoraDollie

Speaking form a strictly medically perspective - it means a person who can do what we consider "daily activities" (eating, drinking things like water and other common beverages, using the toilet, personal grooming habits like showering and brushing hair, breathing, these kinds of basic biological things) with minimal discomfort or issues. It means for chronic pain patients, learning how to minimize your chronic pain on a daily basis (or any other symptoms associated with other chronic conditions like neurological or sleep just to name a few). 

 

Unfortunately, when it comes to societal and personal life, it's just tough right now for everyone. Myself, included. I constantly feel like my bank account is negative or between $1-10 a LOT more since COVID started. Despite having a bloody master's degree, I'm lucky if I make 10k a year because I'm paid by the project, not a regular hourly wage or salary (yes, I'm applying to jobs everywhere to try to get a better financial life and safety net for myself). 

 

"Quality life" in general means having relative financial security (as much as you can in the world we live in), being able to know you can put food on the table regularly, and and having enough left over money to enjoy whatever hobbies you like (art, creating things, reading, singing, dancing, etc.). Nothing too extravagant. Also means medically you can more or less take care of yourself at your own baseline (where you have minimal pains and can do most 'daily living' tasks as I outlined above with little to no struggles). 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites
Lord Jade Cross
11 hours ago, MermaidRomani said:

Speaking form a strictly medically perspective - it means a person who can do what we consider "daily activities" (eating, drinking things like water and other common beverages, using the toilet, personal grooming habits like showering and brushing hair, breathing, these kinds of basic biological things) with minimal discomfort or issues. It means for chronic pain patients, learning how to minimize your chronic pain on a daily basis (or any other symptoms associated with other chronic conditions like neurological or sleep just to name a few). 

No physical pain (for now) but it has slowly been creeping in that doindg some of the most basic things feel more like a chore than taking care of yourself, which for me who was in a sense neuronically obsessed with things like cleanliness, is a comolete opposite

11 hours ago, MermaidRomani said:

 

Unfortunately, when it comes to societal and personal life, it's just tough right now for everyone. Myself, included. I constantly feel like my bank account is negative or between $1-10 a LOT more since COVID started. Despite having a bloody master's degree, I'm lucky if I make 10k a year because I'm paid by the project, not a regular hourly wage or salary (yes, I'm applying to jobs everywhere to try to get a better financial life and safety net for myself). 

15-20 years ago, I would have thought this impossible since having a masters degree was next to be considered a genius or of considerable resources, but nowadays it seems we draw ever closer to demanding these degrees to even be able to apply for the most basic of jobs at the lowest pays. Im with you on the not even being able to make 10k a year, when the costs of living are rounding around the 35k-40k at the most basic needs

11 hours ago, MermaidRomani said:

 

"Quality life" in general means having relative financial security (as much as you can in the world we live in), being able to know you can put food on the table regularly, and and having enough left over money to enjoy whatever hobbies you like (art, creating things, reading, singing, dancing, etc.). Nothing too extravagant. Also means medically you can more or less take care of yourself at your own baseline (where you have minimal pains and can do most 'daily living' tasks as I outlined above with little to no struggles). 

The only times Ive gone a doctor is when I have no choice left because its unbeliably expensive and jobs are merciless if you take time off, even if it is out of medical necesity

Link to post
Share on other sites

when i think of quality of life, i simply think about an enjoyable life. while, yes, a difficult and/or low-paying job, expensive housing, and poor quality healthcare all hamper that, i wouldn't say there's anything you need that's required to live an enjoyable life. if you have all of this, but you're constantly being harmed by others in your personal life, it likely wouldn't feel “quality.” on the other hand, someone might be dealing with some or all of these factors but still have a positive and optimistic view on their life. i think what is and isn't a quality life is really just up for the individual to decide, as opposed to being completely made-or-broken by a list of select factors in their life

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...