A life well-lived is one in which your happiness is balanced with the happiness of those around you and your best interests, and you are well-remembered by those after you’re gone. It’s easy to say that a well-lived life is just one in which you’re happy, but there’s a bit of a caveat to that.

I don’t like going to school, but it’s necessary for my future happiness. Unpleasant things like getting vaccinated, going to school, exercising, and so on aren’t going to make me happy in the present, but I balance out my temporary unhappiness with the knowledge that, in the future, I will remain healthier and happier.

Similar to balancing my happiness with my best interest, I must also balance my happiness with the happiness of others. If someone makes me mad, and I wish to break something that belongs them or yell at them, it may make me happy or feel temporarily better, but it wouldn’t do a thing for their happiness. I’m free to pursue happiness in my life, but that happiness can’t come at the expense of someone else’s happiness. They are just as entitled to living a meaningful and well-lived life as I am, and I will never live well if I’m not willing to help others be happy.

In terms of being well-remembered after I’m gone, I don’t mean that I have to be remembered by many. It’s a quality over quantity sort of principle. I mean that those who do remember you after you’re gone, do so in a positive light. Humans are instinctively social creatures, and we have thrived for so long because we rely on help and support from others.

In order to live a life well, we must sometimes put the needs of others before the needs of ourselves. Our good actions, both small and large, can carry a great impact on the lives of others, and the feeling that comes from helping others is one that can’t be duplicated.

By living in service to others, even in small ways, we are well on our way to living our own lives well. In addition to what I’ve said above, a life well lived is one in which we live up to our potential. While the occasional lazy day may be nice, we aren’t fulfilling much of a purpose by sitting inside every day. Everyone possesses a unique set of talents, and it’s a waste if we squander our talents by not utilizing them to their fullest potential.

Life is about successes and failures, and if we don’t take chances then we will never really know what we are capable of doing. Even a life well-lived will have its ups and downs. We can’t always be happy, and we aren’t perfect, which means that we may not always put the happiness of others before ourselves.

We can fall short of our best, but we still feel good for trying. The most important thing about living a well-lived life, taking everything into account, is not being 100% perfect all of the time. It’s about living to the best of our ability and accepting our failures as learning experiences. It’s about giving it our best shot whenever possible.

I don't mean to sound like a life guru because, let's be real, I'm 19. I have a lot of life left to live and experience (I hope), so I have a lot left to learn. I'm just here to smile my way through the good times and cry with others through the bad. I'm just here to try figure things out, same as everyone else.