What are the most important things needed to live a good life?
Here are ChatGPT’s top 10 things it thinks we need to live a good life.
🌻 1. Love (with a capital L)
Not just the romantic kind, but love in its many flavors—loyal dogs that follow you room to room, my partner of 31 years is still making me laugh, friends who know your weirdness and stick around anyway. Love gives life its warmth, its reason.
🛠 2. Purpose
Whether it’s writing songs, raising kids, or rummaging through garage sales like it’s a treasure hunt ordained by fate—purpose gives me a reason to get up, even on gray mornings. It doesn’t have to be grand. Just real.
💰 3. Enough (but not too much)
I don’t need to be rolling in riches. Just enough to be safe, fed, and occasionally treat yourself to something joyful—like a vintage lamp shaped like a goose wearing a bonnet. (You know that’s a good find.)
🧠 4. Peace of Mind
That quiet space in your soul where you’re not at war with yourself. Forgiveness, self-compassion, learning to say “no” without guilt—these are the unsung heroes of happiness.
🫂 5. Connection
To people, yes—but also to moments. To the way sunlight spills across my porch. To stories that matter. To old songs and new dreams. Without connection, life is a long hallway echoing back nothing.
🎨 6. Creativity & Expression
Whether I’m writing lyrics, painting, building, cooking, or dancing in the living room with the dogs—creativity is how we process the chaos and sprinkle beauty over it like glitter on a kindergarten art project.
🌳 7. Health
This one’s sneaky. We forget it until it slips. Physical health, yes, but also mental health—the kind that lets you breathe easy and sleep through the night without carrying tomorrow’s worries like a backpack of bricks.
🙏 8. Gratitude
Not forced “silver lining” stuff—but a gentle noticing. “Look at this,” you whisper to yourself. “We’ve made it another day.” Gratitude softens the hard edges and makes even the simplest meals feel like a feast.
🎭 9. A Little Mystery
Some dreams left undone, some roads not taken, a sense that life still has surprises for you. Keeps the spark burning.
🎶 10. Stories
Yours, mine, the stranger’s on the bench. We’re made of stories, and living a good life means telling yours with honesty, heart, and maybe a few unexpected plot twists.
Now, if I could bottle that up, I’d put it on a shelf labeled “Essentials for a Life Well-Lived” right next to the glitter-globe collection and the sacred cookie jar that never stays full for long. What would you add to the list?
Married in Arkansas 