The Good Life

The exercise of vital powers along lines of excellence in a life affording them scope. That's how Aristotle defined happiness in about 350BC. Debate has continued since then into the terms, into the methods, and into the fundamental truth of the statement, but it is generally accepted that happiness is a goal to which we should all have a right to aspire.So what then is 'happiness'? What is content? What is the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from letting a large roast-pork dinner settle in front of an open fire with a glass of red wine? (Unless you happen to be a vegetarian, of course? Or a teetotaller? Or have a gas fire?...) Happiness is different for everyone, and part of happiness is discovering what it is that makes you happy. So life should be about ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to find what makes them happy, and the ability where possible to achieve that happiness.What is to say, though, that being happy is the point? Simply this: what else is there? Life is an accidental occurence: there is no purpose to life beyond what we give it. If we choose to leave something for posterity then, presumably, we do so because it makes us happy, we gain satisfaction from it. Most everything we do is intended to make life comfortable, relaxing, easy... to make us happier, or to allow us time and freedom to find happiness.