Quality of Life Discussion

[HikerGuy83]

Not sure where this should go. If this gets to silly, I'll start one in the Lounge.

I am adding a new section to my website that discusses the quality of life.

I am trying to do some research on the topic because I believe that more conversation about that subject might help form better political discussions. Also discussions about non-political topics.

What I would be looking for is input on whether or not you consider choices in terms of contemplated objectives or desires.

I rewrote the page (there is a lot that will go behind it) and it starts:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Imagine having a conversation with a good friend and they ask “What are the key components to your having a good quality of life?” Would you be able to answer them? If this feels like it is coming at you from left field, please take a moment to consider the questions listed below. Not so much from the standpoint of trying to answer them. Instead, are these the questions that you think about or believe you should think about. Are they the right questions to ask ?

What is most important to me?
How do those things guide my choices day-to-day and long term?
How does “what is important to me” guide my political choices and what affects the intensity I feel about issues and ideology?
How does “what is important to me” guide my non-political choices?

Intuitively, it would seem that we would all think about these things on a routine basis.

It would also seem like our choices in politics would be directly related to our answers to those questions.

What do you think?

Instead of jumping right into issues or concerns, it seems prudent to discuss the process by which we evaluate things and what it is that we are ultimately seeking to accomplish as individuals, families, and a society (or the various communities to which we belong).

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Looking for thoughts on what I have written, but I am also very interested in anything you might want to share regarding quality of life considerations.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Donald H]

Personally I'm only interested in rational discussions when there's a reasonable chance of it not being spammed by the usual culprits. That's what is most important to me on this forum.

Otherwise, the discussion seems to not be possible.

 

[d0gbreath]

To me, quality of life only deals with my health. What's important to me doesn't.

 

[Votto]

Personally I'm only interested in rational discussions when there's a reasonable chance of it not being spammed by the usual culprits. That's what is most important to me on this forum.

Otherwise, the discussion seems to not be possible.

Racist

 

[jwoodie]

Not sure where this should go. If this gets to silly, I'll start one in the Lounge.

I am adding a new section to my website that discusses the quality of life.

I am trying to do some research on the topic because I believe that more conversation about that subject might help form better political discussions. Also discussions about non-political topics.

What I would be looking for is input on whether or not you consider choices in terms of contemplated objectives or desires.

I rewrote the page (there is a lot that will go behind it) and it starts:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Imagine having a conversation with a good friend and they ask “What are the key components to your having a good quality of life?” Would you be able to answer them? If this feels like it is coming at you from left field, please take a moment to consider the questions listed below. Not so much from the standpoint of trying to answer them. Instead, are these the questions that you think about or believe you should think about. Are they the right questions to ask ?

What is most important to me?
How do those things guide my choices day-to-day and long term?
How does “what is important to me” guide my political choices and what affects the intensity I feel about issues and ideology?
How does “what is important to me” guide my non-political choices?

Intuitively, it would seem that we would all think about these things on a routine basis.

It would also seem like our choices in politics would be directly related to our answers to those questions.

What do you think?

Instead of jumping right into issues or concerns, it seems prudent to discuss the process by which we evaluate things and what it is that we are ultimately seeking to accomplish as individuals, families, and a society (or the various communities to which we belong).

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Looking for thoughts on what I have written, but I am also very interested in anything you might want to share regarding quality of life considerations.

Thanks in advance.

I think a good quality of life is a combination of attitude and the effect of negative influences. Attitude can be characterized by the half-empty or half-full analogy, whereas negative influences may or may not be controllable. If the latter, ask a Buddhist how to cope with them.

 

[odanny]

I think a good quality of life is a combination of attitude and the effect of negative influences. Attitude can be characterized by the half-empty or half-full analogy, whereas negative influences may or may not be controllable. If the latter, ask a Buddhist how to cope with them.

Agree with the Buddhist approach, not only to bad news, but also to death. You cannot escape death, it is inevitable, so one should not fear it, and accept it when your time has come.

 

[Votto]

Agree with the Buddhist approach, not only to bad news, but also to death. You cannot escape death, it is inevitable, so one should not fear it, and accept it when your time has come.

So you favor the Buddhist approach to bad news vs. the Left wing approach?

 

[ChemEngineer]

If you follow the Commandments of the Holy Bible and live by its precepts, you will be a fulfilled person.
,
"Having food and raiment, be content therewith."

"People who think money buys happiness don't have money, ha ha ha." - Billionaire David Geffen (homosexual, and necessarily very unhappy)

 

[HikerGuy83]

Personally I'm only interested in rational discussions when there's a reasonable chance of it not being spammed by the usual culprits. That's what is most important to me on this forum.

Otherwise, the discussion seems to not be possible.

I'd still be interested to hear what you have to say.

In my conversations with people, they often are not able to articulate just what it is that makes them happy. I try not to put them on the spot, but I think it is worth thinking about.

Many find that what is important changes as they grow in age and experience.

Do you think about what makes you happy (really consider it) ??

 

[HikerGuy83]

To me, quality of life only deals with my health. What's important to me doesn't.

Certainly as I have been researching articles....there was an almost exclusive emphasis on health at the start. That has since broadened. However, health is a huge part of the disccussion.

 

[Votto]

Certainly as I have been researching articles....there was an almost exclusive emphasis on health at the start. That has since broadened. However, health is a huge part of the disccussion.

People Who Attend Church Regularly Are Happier, According to Statistics

Healthy Living, Mental Health, Nutrition, Fitness, and More

www.beliefnet.com

People who practice their faith are happier and live longer.

There, that was easy.

 

[d0gbreath]

Certainly as I have been researching articles....there was an almost exclusive emphasis on health at the start. That has since broadened. However, health is a huge part of the disccussion.

I'll give you: If things that are important to you are all screwed up, that might press upon your mental heath. Lucky for me, so far, I only have a PC doc that determines my quality of life for me. So I don't have to.

 

[HikerGuy83]

People Who Attend Church Regularly Are Happier, According to Statistics

Healthy Living, Mental Health, Nutrition, Fitness, and More

www.beliefnet.com

People who practice their faith are happier and live longer.

There, that was easy.

Faith or spirituality is component in most measurements.

What I was looking for is peoples thought about....do you actually sit and think about what is important to you (mediate...maybe) and think about how that impacts your political and social views.

 

[Votto]

Faith or spirituality is component in most measurements.

What I was looking for is peoples thought about....do you actually sit and think about what is important to you (mediate...maybe) and think about how that impacts your political and social views.

Take Paul in the Biblical text as an example. There he is, jailed in the deepest, darkest of prisons to be executed, which they later did.

But it is there he prays and finds a happy place despite it all.

Your faith does effect your political views. For you see, we all agree on some level that people are sheep, as desctibed in the Bible, so we are all looking for that shepherd to guide us.

Those of faith on average then choose God as their shepherd as where those not of faith choose the state.

Breaking that down further, that means those who practice their faith favor limited government and those not favor a never-ending expansion of government power to protect them.

And at the end of the day, those of faith are happier with their decision.

 

[luiza]

You are wasting your time and also the time of most who read this thread . Your concern relates to the hardest and most complex matter that we can imagine . But you are addressing a "population" where 90% have an IQ under 120 and most of them are Gullible by nature or from conditioning . QED . It is like asking readers of Readers Digest to comment usefully on Quahtum Theory .

 

[HikerGuy83]

You are wasting your time and also the time of most who read this thread . Your concern relates to the hardest and most complex matter that we can imagine . But you are addressing a "population" where 90% have an IQ under 120 and most of them are Gullible by nature or from conditioning . QED . It is like asking readers of Readers Digest to comment usefully on Quahtum Theory .

Actually, I am asking them to look at the questions in the OP and consider how they approach their decision making.

I agree that consideration of the subject itself is a challenging one. I am lost trying to figure out relevance to individuals, yet there are entire journals being published on the subject.

But, I am not asking people to define that for me.

I am asking how they approach determining if they have the quality of life they want and how they got there.

It's a choice for each of us.

I would agree that it is still a challenging question. It was meant to be.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you approach this.

 

[HikerGuy83]

I think a good quality of life is a combination of attitude and the effect of negative influences. Attitude can be characterized by the half-empty or half-full analogy, whereas negative influences may or may not be controllable. If the latter, ask a Buddhist how to cope with them.

I am looking to find out if people even think about this.

I have to admit, as I have worked on this....it's been a challenge for me to identify my processes for making these decisions.

But it has helped me to articulate some things in my own life.

As an example, while I am a conservative, I am not convinced that we should not have some form of centralized health care. Not federal necessarily. I don't trust that they won't destroy it. But I have seen the lack of health insurance drive families to make life altering decisions just because of it.

If you look at the "happiest" countries on earth, one of the things that affect that metric is the fact that they do have state run health care.

I am not advocating for it. But I also have not closed my mind to it. I feel like I should dig deeper into it and try to understand why I feel the way I do.

I used to be against anything that was government run. I am still pretty much the same way. But reflection has caused me to think about things differently.

 

[jwoodie]

If you look at the "happiest" countries on earth, one of the things that affect that metric is the fact that they do have state run health care.

I'm not sure that is a cause-effect relationship. U.S. private health insurance provides the best health care in the world, but Medicaid and Medicare are bankrupting us. The former causes people to use emergency rooms for medical care, and the latter expends ridiculous amounts of money on end-of-life treatments. Canadians generally hate their government-run health care but pretend to be happy that they are not Americans. Other countries don't even know what freedom is.

 

[HikerGuy83]

I'm not sure that is a cause-effect relationship. U.S. private health insurance provides the best health care in the world, but Medicaid and Medicare are bankrupting us. The former causes people to use emergency rooms for medical care, and the latter expends ridiculous amounts of money on end-of-life treatments. Canadians generally hate their government-run health care but pretend to be happy that they are not Americans. Other countries don't even know what freedom is.

I'll provide more later on health care availability impact on quality of life or happiness.

The rest of your post is true, but not what I was looking for.

Can you take a shot at answering some of the questions I posed in the OP ?

I don't want to know what makes you happy.

I am more intrested to know if you take time a on a regular basis to make sure your choices are aligned with what it is that you think you want. There is no right or wrong. Just looking to find out what people are thinking.

 

[HikerGuy83]

Other countries don't even know what freedom is.

This is true.

The place of "liberty" in our thinking might be different from others.