“No one can promise you that a life lived for others will bring you a deep sense of satisfaction, but it’s certain that nothing else will.”
This claim holds a lot of appeal for me, even if I don’t think it’s quite true. The good life is, Mackay says, to follow the Golden Rule: treat others the way they would want to be treated. In other words, heed the universal desire: “Please take me seriously as a person.”
There is a bit of Old Man Yells At Cloud energy in the book: Mackay does complain a bit about some modern trends. And who can blame him? Still, I was surprised that he seems to misunderstand the concept of the Gratitude Journal. This is quite a widely-known idea, which I first remember from Martin Seligman’s Flourish: every day before bed, write down three things that went well that day. It’s supposed to focus you on the good in your life. Mackay seems to think it’s supposed to do something else – I can’t remember what, but I guess he’s never tried it.
Still, this is a good book. I enjoyed reading it and maybe got a tiny bit closer to being able to live the good life.
