Education and the Good Life

Today most Americans will tell the youth that a college education is essential for
success in life. Without a degree there is no chance at economic advancement and
therefore no foothold to make a Good Life for oneself. An American journalist,
Christopher Morley, was once quoted as saying, There are 3 ingredients in the good life:
learning, earning and yearning (Morely). It is a prevalent idea in our culture that with
education comes money; with money comes happiness along with a want for more
money to make more happinessor so some people think. Well, there is a connection
between the Good Life and education but it is not necessarily through obtaining a college
degree. Rather, educations relationship to the Good Life comes through self-discovery
for personal freedom.
Education is important to living the Good Life. It is vital to ones growth and
development. A seed cannot grow into a plant until it has first changed into a root, and
that root cannot grow into a plant until it grows a stem. The stem must then sprout leaves.
Once all this growth and change has happened the seed has finally begun its life as a
plant. From there on it continues to grow upward. In the same way a seed does not
instantly become a plant neither do humans effortlessly live a Good Life.
We have to learn who we are first. Every time we learn we participate in some
form of education. It is confusing at first. Its unclear where to start. So start anywhere,
literally pick anything in your life to focus on. This self-discovery is a continual process,
this learning about the world around and within us. It is a long and slow process, just like
a seed that is trying to grow. At times it is painful, but in the end it almost always leads to
growth. Just like a seed is buried underground and all the prior effort it has put forth is

not recognized until it is realized in its purpose as a plant neither will the beginning
stages of self discovery be seemingly rewarding. Getting to know who one is unearths
passions and awakens curiosity, leading to the pursuit of more knowledge in that persons
life. This knowledge is ideally used not as a means of material wealth but for the purer
side of being human. This kind of self-knowledge brings a lot of peace to ones life. This
is a priceless gift born of educating one about ones most intimate self and if the Good
Life is to be lived it must be lived from a place of peace from within (Savonick).
Education is something that needs to be worked for if progress is to be made.
Some things will be struggled through while other aspects may come with less resistance.
Getting in touch with your mind and body may be scary at first but it is necessary to
know yourself. Education about oneself as an individual will in turn set that person free.
Freedom is Goodness at its best. This Good or this freedom is achieved through
knowledge of the truth. Truth about oneself and the world around them. Jesus taught
about freedom for all a freedom from sin and freedom from that bondage that comes
from living in a broken world. It follows then, that if Jesus taught personal freedom,
when Jesus taught what he was really teaching was about the Good Life (Liberal).
Some may argue and say certain educational standards are necessary for the
advancement of the nation on a global playing field. These are not subjects dealing at all
with the internal person. These are thinking matters focused on a secular world with no
spirituality. The belief is that students should be internationally viable in the work force
and a competitive and competent education is what will get them there (Affirming).
There is nothing wrong with wanting a quality school education. It is a beautiful gift to

have such access to abundant resources for learning in an academic setting. However,
self-sufficiency is a key component to having a successful, sufficient economy.
It is illogical to believe a self-deprived and internally neglected person left to their
own devices will be able to, along with all the other broken and self-neglected people,
sustain the economy by their knowledge of math, science, reading and writing. To be a
fully functioning sufficient individual you need to have enough self-discovery, which
ends in self-determination and self-security to be able to make wise decisions (Health).
Having incomplete people make big decisions rarely goes well. People who are dead
inside or choose to ignore the bigger part of them the inside part of who they truly areare dead empty people. They need someone to bring them through self-discovery. Instead
of looking at Facebook or Instagram, or Snapchatting about meaningless Starbucks
Frappuccinos, they could sit in quiet disconnectedness from the world around them and
discover a whole new world within them. This internal development is what can
guarantee a better future economy because the people will be more fully rounded in their
thoughts, more connected to themselves and the world around them than those who have
not looked within.
An Australian newspaper, The Herald, had an opinion article about Education
being the key to the Good Life. The author expressed how a college degree opens doors
for young people whom in turn enrich the economy and national culture along with
having more tolerance. Also, it was believed that a more educated people would lead to
smoother transitions and peaceful evolutions of society what with technological advances
and that they would be better equipped to cope with economic changes (ONeil).

Individual freedom in the Good Life affords people the opportunity to make a
decision free from restraints. They decide whom to be and what to do. There is newfound
confidence in the individual, which that confidence gives birth to dignity. These are
things that are not taught in a school. There comes from this introspection an internal
freedom that inevitably gives peace of mind and self-respect to the soul within. When one
is feeling good about themselves they are open to more learning because they see the
previous benefits from it. The more they learn the more opportunities they see in life and
its an attitude and paradigm shift in their life (Health). Money is no longer the center and
goal of life. Life now can be Good even with a lower socio-economic status. Its not the
status about money that matters but rather the internal status of knowing oneself and
having the freedom and peace from within.
In July, when I was in Costa Rica, I met a man named Wilber from the
surrounding rural mountain area. He was selling strawberries in the central park and
approached me to see if I cared to buy a bag. I told him I was sorry, I didnt have any
money on me. He asked me if I had Jesus in my heart. I was surprised at first, a small
culture shock I suppose, but I told him yes and he replied, Then youre rich. Jesus is all
you need. I only saw that man a few more times before leaving Costa Rica but what he
said has stayed with me. Its not the money that makes you rich but your internal state
that is to be a measure of how Good a life is. Wilber himself was a poor man, but he
wouldnt say it that way. Because he spent time educating himself about the heart and
soul, the internal things that mattered, because he was learning about himself, he was a
well-educated rich man in his own eyes. His had a Good Life.

The definition of education as something confined to standardized tests, school

buildings and textbooks is a very shallow way of seeing education. Learning does have
its association to the Good Life so education does have a connection to successful Good
Life Living. It is the growth from within during self-discovery that leads to freedom and
peace for oneself. This is true education. This is the learning and education necessary to
have the Good Life.

Bibliography
Affirming the Goal. Act: College Readiness (2011): 26. ACT. ACT. Web.
"Health, Education, and Income: The Basic Building Blocks of a Good Life."Measure of
America American Human Development Project RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 15
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"Liberal Education and Freedom." Liberal Education and Freedom. N.p., n.d. Web. 15
Apr. 2015.
Morely, Christopher. "Christopher Morley Quote." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 15
Apr.2015.
O'Neil, Phillip. "OPINION: Education Key to a Good Life ." Newcastle Herald. N.p., 15
Sept.2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.
Savonick, Danica. "Why Does Education Matter?" Why Does Education Matter. Gregory
Donovan, 10 June 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.