This is my take on what it means to be human and, more than that, how to live well. It is human nature to make mistakes, that we sometimes offend one another, and that we sometimes fail in our efforts to live well. Genetics, temperament, environment, and individual habits may all play a role in our unpleasant behavior. However, nothing surpasses the fact that, first and foremost, we are human. We are fundamentally designed to be human. It is our nature, just as the car we drive is paid for at its base price.
However, for humans to live well, something more is needed. This means physical, emotional, and spiritual health, none of which is particularly valuable. This includes healthy, intimate emotional relationships and genuine forgiveness. This involves a relationship with God that says, "Here I am. Trust Me. We need each other. I hope you will accept Me and allow Me to be a part of your life."
A wise and loving God created within us both the capacity for success and the possibility of failure. As humans, we often experience both. However, from the balance of success and failure, we develop character, humility, integrity of mind and spirit, and experience joy and sorrow. Living well is not always about success or achievement, nor is it about the absence of humiliation or sadness; we need all of those experiences; living spiritually, emotionally, and even physically healthy is about the process. Golfers have a saying: "It's not how you hit your first shot, but how you get there." It's the process between the ball's starting point and the target on the green that matters.
Living well is about correcting mistakes while striving to avoid repeating them. Living well is about apologizing to those we hurt, while striving to avoid repeating them. Living well means making choices that reduce the magnitude, frequency, and consequences of our failures.
Living well means seeing, behaving, and respecting others as we would have them see us, behave toward us, and respect us. This is the clear and simple golden rule of living well. It is the life of Christ reflected in our lives.
Thank you, God, for creating us as human beings with every potential for living well. - LEONARD L. BAILEY
