The Ideal Life

Our first and most fundamental definition of life — the ideal life — is that life is being truly human. It is as fussless and down-to-earth as that. If life is what we are after; we can forget about doing weird and wonderful things. Life is being truly human.

This raises a basic question. What does it mean to be truly human? One person looks for life in some exotic food, pill or potion, while another seeks it in meditation, and still another in social revolution. Each has a different view of life. The food faddist thinks man is basically a stomach on legs. The second person thinks man is a ghost in a machine. The third thinks of man as an economic animal. Each person's view of what man is determines his life and action.

We recognize that human nature is composed of various faculties. Among these are sight, hearing, speech, mobility, sexuality, affections and reason. But on reflection we see that these faculties have meaning only in the setting of relationships. Could there be any value to sight if there were nothing to see? What would be the use of speech if there were no one with whom to communicate? What of mobility if there were no place to go? Or of affections with no one to love? A mere description of faculties does not tell us what it means to be truly human. Our humanness is defined by our relationships, and therefore we are truly human only in our relationships. It is self-evident that we are related to the environment, to others and to ourselves.

To be human means being related to the environment in a certain way. It provides us with food to eat, places to go, and things to see and enjoy To be human means having the capacity not only to react to our environment, but to act upon it.

To be human means being related to others. We are social creatures whose very existence rests on our solidarity with the human race. We are brought into the world by the action of others. The most independent person depends on others to service his needs. While we go about our own activities, others are growing our food, representing us in government, printing our newspapers and servicing an untold number of our daily needs. We switch on the light without even thinking that the activity of thousands of people who possess skills most of us know nothing about have made this possible.

Fred didn't want to be the slave of other people, so he made a million dollars. Now neither the alarm clock nor his wife could get him out of bed. "I don't have to work," he said. "I've made a million dollars." After he was weary of rest, he sauntered out to get his morning paper. There wasn't any He went to get milk for his corn flakes. There was none. He turned on the television set to watch his favorite program. It was off the air. Nothing was working. The situation was desperate. What was the matter? Everybody had made a million dollars! Fred began to sweat. He was frantic. That awakened him, for it was only a dream. He got out of bed and went off content to serve his fellow men. Life would not only be dull and lonely it would be impossible without others.

To be human means having a relationship with ourselves. While animals are conscious, only human beings are self-conscious. We have self-awareness. Either we have self-respect and a sense of self-worth, or we lack self-respect and believe we are worthless.

Human life is defined by relationships. We do not deny the reality of our faculties, but they have meaning only in the setting of relationships.

We are now ready to propose a second definition of life. Life is being rightly related to the environment, to others and to ourselves. We can call these three relationships physical, social and spiritual life.

Thinking relationally saves us from the mistake of dividing man into two or three distinct parts and then trying to look at each part separately Human life is one. Each person is an indivisible unity The physical, social and spiritual are not three different parts of the person. They are the same whole person seen from three different relationships. The whole person is a physical being. The whole person is a social being. And the whole person is a spiritual being. He is all three at the same time.

Since life is indivisibly one, whatever affects one relationship affects all relationships. If we mistreat our neighbor; we hurt our conscience — our sense of self-respect — and thus damage our spiritual life. If our diet is impoverished and we become irritable or diseased, we impair our social as well as our physical life. We cannot have wellbeing in one area of our existence unless we have well-being in every area. So we can say that life means to be whole in all our relationships. From the word whole come the words wholesome and health.

This brings us to a third definition of life. Life is health. By health we do not mean merely freedom from aches and pains, but wholeness and wellbeing of the total person. We could call it total health. So any time we talk about health or total health on our journey let us remember we mean the same thing as life.

If life is a right relationship in all areas of human existence, this leads us logically to the next point. The moment we say right relationship we imply there is a distinction between right and wrong. Of course there is! There is a right and wrong way to relate to our environment. There is a right and wrong way to relate to others. And there is a right and wrong way to relate to ourselves.

What then is right and what is wrong? To which we must answer; right and wrong are defined by law. It is self-evident that we live in a structured universe governed by law. There are laws which guide the planets and other heavenly bodies in their courses. There are laws which relate to the lives of animals and man. Nothing we see in this world can escape the operation of law.

The universal laws which govern the world and everything in it have three features:

1. Law is a given. We didn't choose it or think it up. No person can decide within himself what a universal law shall be. It is objective. It is there whether we recognize it or not.

2. Law is inexorable. It never changes. It has no favorites. It is absolutely impartial and unvarying. Two plus two always equals four. A falling object always accelerates at a rate fixed by the law of gravity Astronauts must make thousands of calculations based on invariable laws. If they do not re-enter the earth's atmosphere at the right angle and velocity, they are doomed. Without inexorable law an unpredictable world would make life impossible.

3. Law is penal. A penalty is always attached to its violation. There is a difference between law and advice. We may ignore advice without experiencing harm, for advice may or may not be based on law But if we violate a fundamental law of life, we will suffer the consequences. If someone jumps off a tall building, the law of gravity will destroy him within seconds. He doesn't really break the law. The law breaks him. If another puts his hand on a hot stove, he will find an unalterable law which produces painful tissue destruction. An engineer knows that a piece of steel with certain specifications can carry a certain load. If a bridge collapses or a dam bursts, someone has miscalculated. These principles apply to all relationships. I cannot hit my neighbor in anger without damaging our relationship and my own self-respect. Likewise, if I despise myself I will suffer certain psychological consequences.

The violation of law always brings a penalty We may suffer because of someone else's violation of the laws of life. But in most cases we have disregarded these laws ourselves. We have disrupted some vital relationship and thereby brought suffering upon our own heads.

We are now ready to state our fourth definition of life — life at its best. Life is being in harmony with the unalterable laws of life. Most of us would like to think we can find health in some more spectacular way The humdrum business of bringing our lives into harmony with the unalterable laws of life requires discipline. We are tempted to think it is easier to take herbs and drugs or to undergo surgery These, however; are measures to deal with disease. What we are talking about is health, not disease. Health is not found in remedies, good or bad. When some people are told that the basis of health is conformity to the laws of life, they groan, "Has it come to that?" They would rather empty their purses on an operation to remove a "guilty" organ, swallow some mysterious potion or run to the ends of the earth after a dubious health messiah.

There Are No Secrets

The essential principles of successful living are as plain and open as the sunlight. What we need to know to live healthy happy and successful lives is available to all. It is the responsibility of everyone. There are no secrets.

What are the basic laws of life which govern our relationship to the environment, to others and to ourselves? Let us begin with the most obvious and reason from the known to the unknown.

We cannot live without the environment. From it we receive air; water; food and sunlight. A person can live about five minutes without air; five days without water, five weeks without food, and somewhat longer; of course, without sunlight.¹ Life depends on a good supply of pure air; clean water; good food and adequate sunlight. That is right input.

Now there must be right function. In order to enjoy life and health we need correct posture, regular exercise, adequate rest, regular and moderate habits, proper hygiene and, most important of all, right mental attitude — to the environment, to others and to ourselves.

Here, then, are the ten laws of life:

These basic principles of life are self-evident and self-authenticating. That is why there are no secrets. These fundamental laws of life make sense, and they are so simple that anyone who can count can understand and remember them. But let's not think they are child's play

The practice of these basic laws of life will do more to promote the quality and length of life than the best agencies known to science. Medical science has made marvelous contributions toward healing disease and easing human suffering. But it has not removed the appalling burden of such diseases as heart attack, cancer; stroke and mental. illness. People must be educated and motivated to live in compliance with the fundamental laws of life if there is to be improvement in the quality and length of life.

We will see that the ten laws cover everything really important. We will also see that they are all interrelated. Correct breathing depends on good eating, correct posture, regular exercise, sufficient rest and a right mental attitude. Proper hygiene is related to air; water; food, sunlight and exercise. In fact, each law is related to every other law. The violation of one tends to the violation of all. Most important, proper compliance with any law depends on a right attitude to the environment, to others and to ourselves.

Summary

Let us summarize what we have learned about the ideal life:

First, life is being truly human.

Second, life is being rightly related to the environment, to others and to ourselves.

Third, life is health — wholeness.

Fourth, life is being in harmony with the unalterable laws of life.

¹ We are speaking only in round figures.