Beware the Raised Eyebrow: Are Cultural Expectations the Path to the Good Life?

Assumptions are powerful things. We assume where 'everyone' is going is where we want to go, and we want to get there first. We assume that other people are qualified to judge our lives. As we follow the herd, and submit to its scrutiny, though, where are we really going? Perhaps it's not where we assume.

We know 'the good life' for us is 'out there somewhere', waiting to be found and lived. People even become Christians to improve their own lives and their future. Did not Jesus say, "I come that you might have life, and have it to the full?" Yet, how many people, non-Christians and even Christians, are actually living a life that could be described as fulfilled, gratified, and satisfied, much less full of peace, joy, and abundance? Why is that?

Could it be that we have been influenced to embrace goals and to follow a path that will not produce the good life that we desire? Perhaps, in order to 'make it' in this world, we have trained ourselves to become something that prevents our experiencing the actual 'good life', even if it is right in front of us.

To find and to live the good life, we need to embrace the right goals, follow the right path, engage in the right training, and also to understand the influences that are trying to keep us from living this life, and from showing this path to others. Join us, as we consider how to actually find and live the good life.