Life Is Good

Our goal, with this essay, is to clarify.

A notion that is rooted within the concept of “going to the end” and living a “good life.”

My hope is that you enjoy reading this essay.

And, my hope is that not only do you enjoy reading this essay, but that you enjoy employing this method.

You enjoy employing this method and you experience success with it.

Going To The End

Our lives are rooted in desires.

Out of all the desires we can hold, one of the strongest, and most notable is, quite simply, a good life.

A good life.

A life that aligns with our deepest passions, joys, and yearnings.

No one can tell you what a good life is; you must discover it yourself.

And, through the act of living and being, you will.

You will.

To manifest our desires, we can employ a wide assortment of methods, tools, and frameworks.

Out of all the methods, tools, and frameworks that exist, one of my favorites is “Going To The End.”

You can go to the end of any particular desire.

Just as an example if, like me, you want to write a good essay, you can imagine reading through the essay and saying “Dang, this is good.”

Or, perhaps, you can appreciate the ease and flow with which the essay was written.

Just as you might expect, both were employed to write this essay. And, both were successful; writing this essay was an effortless joy.

If you go to the end of a particular desire, you forfeit fretting over the means and, in turn, the ways in which a particular desire can, and will unfold.

Rather than fretting over such concerns, you allow yourself to focus on what truly matters: your experience of this desire, as if it is a present fact of your experience.

Given these ideas, one of the many ways we can live a truly good life is to imagine that we are, in fact, living a good life.

A life that is so good we can, and must, say “Life is good!”

Right before we go over this method, though, we must clarify one other idea and, then, a story.

Your Good Can Come Through Infinite Channels

A quote that stuck with me the first time it was read — sometime in June of 2018, if memory serves — was “Your good can come through infinite channels.”

Right within this context, the quote refers to the fact that the good, beautiful things in your life — and, in turn, those that support those good things, or allow them to arise — can come through an infinite number of unique channels.

Just as an example, a job is one way you can obtain the money you need to do what you want to do.

But, even though a job may be the most conventional way of obtaining money, you can also obtain money through:

• Receiving an inheritance.
• Finding it in your basement.
• Setting up a business.
• Stealing it.
• Obtaining donations.
• Being given a gift.
• Committing insurance fraud.
• Selling the rights to a patent.
• Writing a comic strip.

And so on and so forth.

No, not all of these ideas are good — or, for that matter, legal — but they serve as some of the channels through which money can flow to you.

Just some of the channels that exist, out of an infinite number.

You no longer need to concern yourself with the ways in which something might come to you.

Rather, all you must do is focus on, and experience, the state of your wish fulfilled.

Given the context outlined within this essay, that particular wish is a good life.

If you allow yourself to experience, within this moment, a good life, then your life will be very good.

You may not be able to determine how it will be, or become, good. But, you don’t have to.

Your job is to experience a good life and, in doing so, you will create a good life.

Our Experiences With “Life Is Good”

Our first experience with the method outlined below occured several weeks ago.

A scene came to me: sitting in my bedroom, at night, in Portland, eating a tasty sandwich and watching a movie.

Right within this scene, lots of little details came forth: drinking a glass of root beer — alcohol has never been a friend of mine and, from the look of things, it never will be — while petting my cat Blue.

And, of course, watching a movie and eating a tasty sandwich, all at the same time.

A spontaneous utterance came forth: life is good.

The richness and beauty of that moment serve as the gateway to a deep state of appreciation.

A deep state of appreciation that leads me to utterly, spontaneously and without premeditation, “Life is good.”

Soon after engaging with this method for around ten minutes — give or take; it may have been more or, perhaps, a little less — a wealth of gifts came forth.

Some of these gifts are as follows:

• A wealth of creative inspiration; some of which was used to write this essay.
• A wonderful conversation with an old friend.
• A wealth of future plans with that new friend.
• A delightful day trip to the countryside.
• A rich state of peace that rivals anything felt within the entirety of this year.

Don’t get me wrong, it didn’t solve everything or lead to pure, infinite bliss.

And, yet, it didn’t need to and it certainly doesn’t need to: life is good and, from the look of things, it’s only going to get better and better.

A Method Of Stepping Into The State

To employ the “Life Is Good” method, it is, in my view, imperative that you relax.

If you can, close your eyes and, then, take three deep breaths.

Each breath must be as deep and rich as it can be.

Right after you take each breath, allow yourself to imagine two scenes that you feel relaxed within.

Just as an example, you may feel relaxed while sitting on a bench, near a pond close to your home.

Sit on this bench and allow yourself to rest near this pond.

And, then, move onto another, relaxing scene.

Your scene may be, perhaps, a table at a library you frequent.

Right after you spend a few seconds — or longer, for that matter — within these scenes, allow yourself to move.

To move beyond these scenes and into another scene.

A simple, clear scene rich with sensory details.

Your scene must be a simple, familiar place that you frequent.

Just as an example, your bedroom or, perhaps, your living room.

Or, really, any other place that you frequently visit or, even, live within.

Step into the scene.

And, then, allow yourself to imagine a particular act.

A particular act that you enjoy.

Your act might be eating some pizza or washing dishes.

Really, it can be anything. But, it should be simple, as that seems to be effective.

Just allow yourself to give these acts a richness of sensory detail; feel yourself engaging with them.

And, then, allow yourself to imagine that all of the problems and fears and doubts that you hold in your heart are, in fact, no longer problems, fears, and doubts.

Rather, they are gone.

Every single one is gone.

And, in being gone, you are living the life that you wish to live.

You are living a perfect life.

No, it may not be truly “perfect.” But, it’s as close to perfect as it can be.

Just experience your scene within this sensibility.

And, then, allow yourself, and the mood of this scene, to move you into a spontaneous utterance.

A spontaneous utterance that is nothing less than the words “Life is good.”

Each word is charged with a rich appreciation that you feel within the depths of your body.

You enjoy this scene.

And, in enjoying this scene, you repeat it, as many times as you wish.

You enjoy this moment as much as you would like to.

Eventually, you awaken from the scene.

But, in awakening from the scene, you know that your life is good.

No, it may not present itself as good now; you may not be able to see it.

Soon enough, though, you will see your life in its true form: a rich, beautiful gift.

Every event and circumstance that must arise, in order for your life to be truly good, will arise.

Just accept this as the truth and, in the event that you forget it, return to your scene.

Your life is good.

Conclusion

To those who read this Medium essay, thank you so very much!

My hope is that you employ the method outlined within the essay.

And, in employing this method, my hope is that it leads to the rich, beautiful life you truly deserve to live.

As always, if you wish to reach me, you can do so at “maxwellcakin@gmail.com!”