Chapter 18
LEVEL OF LIFE SATISFACTION
I found Sundays boring when I was young. There was so little I could do. I still have diffi culty when I have “nothing to do.” After I left family life and was struggling to adjust to living alone, a friend said to me “You have to find new ways to structure your time.” True.
Remember the song “Saturday night is the loneliest night of the week”? Well, what do we have to do to lead a life we would call satisfactory? Life is more than just “activity” to be satisfying. What does make life satisfactory? or challenging?
One way to measure the satisfaction one gets out of life is to see what progress is being made. Progress could be in money and assets accumulated, in new knowledge, in new experiences or skills. Whatever the measure it must show some form of growth and improvement.
I have tried to put this in graphic form. If you look at Chart 3 (over the page), you will see the factors in life that tend to govern satisfaction.
The left side of the chart shows the age of the person, or time of life. It starts in the forty year old age group and goes to sixty-five and over.
The bottom line shows the degree of satisfaction in life. It moves from a “low” on the left in terms of boredom, anxiety or illness, to a “high” on the right of fulfillment, energy and vitality.
Inside the chart is shown the status of the person. We consider three cases. Take Mr. “A” for example. He is in his forties; he has a routine 9-5 job of no great challenge and would fall in the boredom category. See spot “A” on the chart. Now Ms “B” is in an active job that is not so routine but does not fully use her talents. She is in her early fifties and reasonably satisfied with her life. And according to the chart has not reached her full potential. However, Mr.”C” is actively challenged and an early senior. He is self-employed and for the first time in his life he is able to be fully creative, and therefore enjoys his work, and life. You may have to put in your own criteria depending on your own definitions of what you use to assess quality of life. Such measurements of quality of life are not scientific, but they do stimulate thinking and are sort of fun. Try this one out on yourself and friends.
Chart 2
LEVEL OF LIFE SATISFACTION
