Living an excellent life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Living an excellent life - Essay Example For instance, a good flutist is ‘good’ as far as his flute playing is good (Parry). Aristotle’s definition also held that goodness was an end in itself. Eudaimonia was reached when there was ‘nothing missing’ from a life. Therefore, a good life was also a ‘complete’ life. He also specifically identifies human goodness with psychological goodness rather than a material or physical goodness. His happiness is of the mind, rather than of the body (Parry). These are just a few facets of the more complex notion of eudaimonia or happiness that Aristotle defines in his treatises. This idea however has evolved over the years and ‘goodness’ or a ‘good life’ today does not necessarily have to do with serving one’s ‘function’ or leading a purely virtuous life. There has even been the question of whether goodness or happiness is really of the mind alone. Bill Clegg and Matthew Dickman are two contemporary writers who present rather different opinions on what makes an excellent life. Bill Clegg’s memoir Ninety Days traces his progress through ninety days of rehabilitation from drug addiction while Dickman’s poems touch upon many contemporary issues found in relationships like gender roles, abuse, and pain, among others. These two writers present rather different views on what makes a ‘good life’ and this paper will explore how they compare to each other as well as to Aristotle’s concept of eudaimonia. Bill Clegg, in his autobiographical work, Ninety Days, formulates a set of principles that, to him, make a life worth living. He traces his descent into drug addiction and back again into sobriety in the memoir. One of the key requirements, according to Clegg’s worldview, to moving towards a good life, is honesty; honesty with one’s friends and family, but most importantly, honesty with oneself. This honesty needs to be coupled with a stric t regime to recover from any negative or debilitating experience like turning into an addict. Clegg’s own commitment to rehabilitation, as recorded in Ninety Days, is not free from trouble. He has a relapse, for instance, when just three days away from his goal and yet he starts again. Clegg, therefore, leaves room for mistakes and believes in a greater redemptive power that can overcome weakness. Another one of Clegg’s requirements for a good life is the need to establish contact with others. For instance, at one point, when he has only sixteen more days to go, he has to move out from Noah’s apartment when he is not there. However, he needs to have a friend, Sai, with him while he moves out only to have a ‘glamorous force field’ around him to make him feel better and stronger when he reenters the building he left on a stretcher for the first time. This need for companionship and the value that Clegg attaches to forming human relationships is missin g from Aristotle’s idea. Clegg’s friend in rehab, Polly, is another example of how Clegg considers establishing human contact with others as an instrumental part of getting sober and back to living a good life again. Polly is in many ways a foil to Clegg, she is both similar to him in circumstances and yet very different. In the extract where Clegg describes his first meeting with Polly, he declares how his first thought at seeing her was ‘I hope she doesn’t want to talk after the meeting’ but he winds up chasing after her for her number. Their growing attachment is also

Finding the Leadership in You Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Finding the Leadership in You - Essay Example I use more of an array of incentives to motivate individuals to perform their best. I am in a sense a transformational leader also. I go beyond to manage my day-to-day operations for the company, my lack of tolerance to uncertainty and self-objectivity affects my leadership abilities. My ability to get knowledge without inference or reason is low (Webb, 2013). My low intuitive abilities are affecting my capability to learn and solve the complex problem in a subconscious basis. It plays a vital part in the decision making process. I will work on developing my intuitive abilities in order to improve my decision making, avoid common mistakes and dissolve prejudices (Tidd & Bessant, 2011). I have a strong conflict management skill. My capacity to remain calm and absorbed in tense conditions is a crucial aspect of conflict resolution (Webb, 2013). I usually stay centered and in control of myself, which makes me avoid being emotionally overwhelmed intense conditions. I have a strong courteous regard to people feelings, and act as a facilitator in solving conflicts. My high Yield tendency facilitates courteous yielding to opinions, judgments, or wishes of other people. My forcing tendency abilities demonstrate my skill of ensuring that people act in a manner, which facilities’ resolution of conflicts (Tidd & Bessant, 2011). The high avoidance tendency demonstrates my ability to avoid tense situations, or conflicts. This ensures that I behave in a manner that does not facilitate conflicts, and ensure that an amicable environment exists at all time. The high compromising tendency shows that I am more than eager to compromise in order to take into consideration other people thoughts and feelings (Cummings & Worley, 2009). I possess strong problem solving skills. These skills demonstrate my ability to solve problem and offer solutions to complex and challenging situations. Time management skills demonstrate how someone is more aware to