The Good Life
I wrote my first post in March 2016, and it was titled, “Happy, healthy, and free”. Three years later, those three words still encapsulate what I want most in my life. Probably what most of us want in life, and spend much time wishing for. But the Mrs Goodness journey began with an epiphany; a realisation that I wasn’t going to achieve any of my life’s desires by wishing, hoping, or pretending. I’d spent a lot of my energy until that moment doing all three of the above. I thought I’d been doing the right thing by trying to create a life that was full of choices as a means to securing my future happiness – if I had more money, I would have more choices; if I had more qualifications, I would have more choices; if I had more assets, I would have more choices – and whenever I felt deprived of choice I struggled with feelings of being trapped; stuck; a victim of circumstance or fate. Then one day, at a time in my life when I really did feel stuck, I had a moment of clarity (in the shower of course) and I realised that freedom isn’t about having more choices; it’s about taking responsibility for your life. I wrote this message to myself on the bathroom mirror so I wouldn’t forget, and then I quit my job.
Now almost four years later, I’m still on a journey. That’s what life is, right? Happiness is a way of life, not a destination. I made some big changes to my attitude and to my life, and although I don’t actually know where I’m going or how things will work out tomorrow, I honestly feel happy, healthy, and free today as a result. I realise now that I don’t really wish for much anymore, because I feel contented with who I am and where I’m going.
The Mrs Goodness blog is a journal; a chronicle of my ideas, decisions, and actions, as I try to live a life that is responsible and authentic to me. I’m writing in the hope that my successes and failures might inspire others somehow, but also to remind myself constantly of what I want to do and who I want to be. I know I’m not perfect, and I know there are some tough times ahead of me, but I believe that I can realise my life’s purpose every single day by taking responsibility for my thoughts, actions, and feelings, and doing my very best to be GOOD.
x Esther
