You Need These 3 Pillars To Enjoy A Superior Quality Of Life.
Many people seek to enjoy life. A rare few pursue a superior quality of life. Which one are you?
We believe that our ability to earn and spend governs our quality of life. That is true, but that can be incomplete. Money does allow us to buy most of what we desire, just not all.
It brings me to my reflection on the concept of Quality of Life. What exactly is it? This is the official definition from Britannica.
“Quality of life (QOL), according to Britannica, is the degree to which an individual is healthy, comfortable, and able to participate in or enjoy life events.”
It does not speak to me in any shape or form.
Over the years, I learned through my hustle with life, that we enjoy a superior Quality of Life when we get to do what we want, whenever we want. In fact, 38 years of walking on Planet Earth taught me that this is the only relevant definition.
Yet, a concept or a principle to live by is at best, arbitrary. To get others to understand and embrace a new perspective, practical anchors are required.
In this story, I will introduce the 3 pillars that support a superior Quality of Life that I subscribe to and practice. They are dazzling gems I acquired through life experience, and they are consistently polished and refined through conversations with others.
There is no particular sequence to the 3 pillars. They are indexed for convenience and should be regarded as an enumeration of ideas rather than acquiring them one before the other.
Pillar 1 — Financial Stability.
Money is a controversial topic. My Mum hates to talk about it. My Aunt adores it.
When I was much younger, I never understood how 1 topic could have extreme viewpoints from 2 adults from the same household. As I mature into my adolescent years, I realized one thing.
There is no one correct viewpoint on anything, let alone money. And there is a divergence between what we agree with, and what we do not.
We can all agree that saving for a rainy day is the right thing to do. We cannot agree on how much exactly, is enough. I recently asked a high net-worth individual (a friend, actually) about her perspective about savings.
She said that it is important to prepare for financial contingencies. Her children might want to study abroad, her parents might be hospitalized during their Sunset years, and she might be diagnosed with a medical condition for the long-term.
Saving as much as she can while she can participate in the workforce, matters.
And I resonate with her perspective.
Years ago, I had a rough encounter with the effect of sub-optimal dental hygiene. I needed to extract that wretched wisdom tooth nested in a corner that my toothbrush could not reach.
I suffered terribly from the pain radiating from that tooth, and the inability to afford a dental operation. I had been working for a couple of years then, and I had prioritized consumption economics, over rainy day reserves.
That meant I was a high-income poor.
When I had to borrow $2,000 from my Aunt for the dental operation, she chewed me alive. It was a painful lesson in many ways.
My aunt eventually lent me that sum of money, and I did extract that source of misery. Most importantly, I learned one invaluable life lesson that I will never forget.
Having ample financial reserves allows me to respond to unforeseen circumstances. Sure, it does not allow me to get rich. However, it allows me to sleep tight at night.
From then now, I worked to accumulate one year’s worth of reserves (based on current income level) to have at my disposal. It allowed me to ride through future unemployment possibilities, family obligations, and dental emergencies.
Most importantly, I no longer needed to borrow from my family.
World Peace.
Pillar 2 — Quiet Relationships. A Jab Of Confidence.
When we think of relationships, we think about the positive side. We think about a happy family laughing over dinner. We think about a cordial working relationship when we occasionally go for a beer.
That is pretty one-sided.
I have gone through many bad patches in my life. During the year where I had to repeat my National Examinations in high school, the world I knew collapsed right in front of me. I became an expired top-student in an instant.
I had to repeat it. And that year was extremely tough. I became transparent in the eyes of my lecturers. My juniors who adored me previously, could not bother to converse with me.
It was a World of Hurt.
There were many times where I became frustrated all of a sudden, and I kept sighing. There was no exact trigger. There were multiple triggers. The environment that I was in, plus my mental state, put me in a bad spot.
I did not look forward to gatherings that year. I felt that people did not look at me. They looked down on me.
And so, I retreated to my shell. Most of the time, I hid in the library to study. There was peace. It was then that I met a person who taught me one new life lesson on quiet relationships.
Sandra (fake name), a classmate of mine, was known to be self-sufficient. Meaning, she loved to be alone. It helped that she loved to study when no one else wanted to.
She became my best friend in the library. In fact, having her around calmed my jitters. We sat at separate tables initially, and I would occasionally look in her direction. She enjoyed every moment of ‘Me-Time’, studying and reading reference books.
I smiled at her when our eyes met. Before long, we would sit together and enjoy that quiet moment. She would be doing her thing, and I would be doing mine.
The important thing is she did not meddle with what I was doing. And she was not bothered when the table shook, or when I squeezed, sending shock waves to her side of the table. She focused on herself.
That calmed me. It hit me that the quality of relationships is ascertained through tough times.
Today, I value friends with whom I can share a comfortable silence. Asking me how I feel, frustrates me more, even though it is well-intended.
Have faith in the people who are undergoing an internal healing process. They will come back. What they need is time and quiet moments to themselves.
You might not believe me, but it works wonders.
I stick to those with whom I can share a quiet moment when I am emotionally vulnerable. They put me at ease. Before long, I am nursed back to normal.
Pillar 3 — Physical Mobility. Sweat It Out.
We build tension into our minds through our work and daily interactions. Therefore, we must release that accumulated tension daily.
As students, we chase for grades to demonstrate that we are academically brilliant. As corporate beings, we chase for promotion to rise through the ranks.
We are always chasing after something.
In this process, we tire ourselves out mentally. I remember studying aggressively in my varsity years so I could graduate with a Summa Cum Laude. I remember working late into the night to win big-ticket deals for the company so I could be promoted to middle management as soon as possible.
I experienced multiple bouts of burnout in both scenarios, and every successive burnout got more serious than the previous.
My body responded to the level of tension it was forced to absorb. The amount of sleep gradually increased over the years, and the cups of coffee required to keep me awake went from 1 to 2, to 3.
The signs were telling. My preference for a cup of coffee went from Latte to Cappuccino to Americano. It was then I started taking notice.
I never had enough sleep. At the same time, I never had enough coffee. I cannot find a better way to describe myself except becoming a zombie.
It was then that I decided to lace up and head out for a run. I did not know how this happened. It hit me one day that I had not been exercising for the longest time, and I was on vacation. So, I went running.
It was the best feeling I had in years. It felt as if the tension build-up within me over the years, oozed out of me through sweat. I never felt that good.
I repeated a run the following day. While it was only a 3-kilometre run, it allowed me to sleep like a baby, and wake up fresh as a daisy.
From then on, I knew that I had to make time for exercise. We cannot just pile pressure on our minds and body. We have to learn to release it.
For me, that is achieved by running 3 times a week.
Importance of These 3 Pillars In Our Daily Life — My Take.
I learned to incorporate these gems into my daily life.
We want to be productive and achieve something in school, or at work. Ideally, we want to punch hard and high all the time. Emotions tell a different story.
Emotions move in waves and cycles. We get affected by the environment we are in, and emotions are magnified in an instant. Remember that time when you got back-stabbed by a colleague?
I am certain that it leaves a bad aftertaste in your mouth. I know, because I have been there.
Having to deal with a toxic relationship daily is a by-product of making a living. Our ability to retreat into our cocoon of quiet interaction and tension relief, allows us to heal our battle scars.
When we make enough to escape the system for a brief respite, we get to enjoy the positive side our world offers.
Financial stability combined with quiet interaction and tension relief gives us a glimpse of how a life well-lived should be.
When we have enough in the bank, be comfortable with ourselves, and sweat out our inner frustrations, we become ready for another day.
This time, a better day.
This, to me, is a superior Quality of Living. And it goes beyond material consumption.
Be Blessed With A Superior Quality Of Life,
Aldric
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About the Author:
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure.
Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
As a Consultant by training, I believe in making the complex simple.
Because simplicity adds value.
And with clarity — We grow.
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