Microstory 317: Quality of Life

This is an experimental Stepwisdom microstory. The introduction can be found in Microstory 300. More to follow.

Many people talk about quality of life when someone has fallen into a medical state not conducive to typical daily activity. This may be due to a terminal disease that allows some semblance of normalcy, but often at the expensive of life-prolonging treatment. It can also be used in regards to a loved one who is too incapacitated to even communicate their thoughts. But quality of life is an ongoing process every individual goes through regarding their personal needs and desires. Everyone needs to decide how they would like to live their lives; what they’re willing to risk or do without, and what limitations conditional factors have on their choices. It’s no secret, and also wholly unavoidable assuming the status quo, that rich people are more capable of living high quality lives. One of my favorite quotes comes from a television program called Switched at Birth where a less fortunate character is explaining themselves to another by saying, “you live in a world of money. Money means choices. No money, no choices.” It’s important to remember that there will always be someone with less than you, and also someone with more. This is not an inherently bad thing; it’s just the way that things are. There is a grand difference between giving up on your aspirations, and accepting what you’ve been born into by making the best of what you have. An impoverished person can have a higher quality of life than you may think. It depends on their perspective, and their priorities, among other considerations. This concept may sound like it belongs further down the list where I’ll discuss more psychological and emotional requirements, but I decided to place it here because it’s something you need to think about while covering more basic needs. You could have everything you ever wanted, but if you never thought about this, you may find yourself wanting for even more.