Integration 3 Moreau FYE March 4, 2022 Steps Toward a Life Well-Lived We are all here today to mourn the loss of a great man, . Charlie was loved by many and will be truly missed. I think we all can learn a lesson from Charlie’s life. Charlie led a great example of living a life well-lived. I am going to take this eulogy to give the key steps of how he lived a life well-lived. One of the first things we must take into consideration while figuring out our future is to figure out what brings us joy. Figuring out what brings you joy leads to a life full of happiness. I believe that a life full of happiness is the key to living a life well-lived. This seems like it is an easy task, just finding what brings you joy, but this can be difficult. Many times, what is supposed to bring you joy, does not. This is when you truly need to search deep down within yourself. The definition of joy is “the sense of the rightness of the way in which one is living one’s life”. This means to feel like your life is for you, you must surround yourself with things that give you joy. Many times, we will find ourselves feeling miserable and unsatisfied. This is okay. This feeling will allow us to feel the real joy we get out of things we enjoy. St. Augustine explains this by saying, “Dissatisfaction is not a bad thing...indeed it’s the best thing about us. It’s what constantly moves us forward, makes us grow, expands our horizons, and deepens our perceptions. It’s a very healthy, a very important, and a very valuable thing!”(Meet the nun who wants you to remember that you will die,QQC 3, St. Augustine). Figuring out what gives us joy is an important step in living a life well-lived. Once we figure out what brings us joy, we must decide the ways we will be able to do these things. Many times, while we figure out what we want to do, we do not always incorporate what gives us joy. We like to think of what others will https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html think of us and how lucrative the career will be. To live a life well-lived, we must be true to ourselves. While figuring this out we should use questions like, “What is something you are doing when you lose track of time?” and “What is something you are doing when you lose track of time?” (Exploring a Life Well Lived, Center for Career Development, QQC 4). These questions will help guide us to what we truly should be doing and helped guide Charlie throughout his life. Many times, making these important decisions can be challenging alone. Therefore, it can be very important to ask people you respect and trust for advice. Many times, the people that know you well know you better than yourself. Charlie talked to his RA for advice in selecting a major. This decision seemed daunting to him at first, but after talking to someone he respected and trusted, he learned that it was not that big of a deal. His RA said it was “very easy to switch majors” and that he himself “switched his major 3 times” (Rogba Ayoola, QQC 5). This can relate to many decisions in our lives. Nothing is as big as it seems. We tend to worry too much and stress over nothing. These worries and self-doubt can be challenging obstacles to overcome. Self-doubt is a dark shadow that can loom over you in any situation you might find yourself in. Questions like, am “I cool enough?” or “smart enough?” can interfere with your plans and make you shy away from different opportunities. This can be difficult, but we must overcome these worries. In the video by Grotto (5 minutes, Grotto, QQC 6), Dr. Kim explains his story of becoming paralyzed. This leads to lots of self-doubts, especially regarding his dream career of being a sushi chef. In the end, Dr. Kim was able to become the chef, not like he dreamed, but he did it. We can learn from Dr. Kim that overcoming self-doubt can be done. Along with self-doubt, we also encounter many more obstacles on our path to the good life. Life as a student for Charlie was especially busy. It can be a major obstacle managing all https://nd.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0AGRyH4SWX0bz38 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/41088/modules/items/146544 your obligations. We come to school with the purpose to learn, but lots of that learning happens outside the classroom. It can be very hard to manage your time when it seems like you have none. Although it sometimes feels impossible, we must take breaks. “The more time I spend away from my work, the better that work will be”(Why we need to slow down our lives, Pico Iyer, TED QQC 1). This quote is explaining how you can burn out with work. He is claiming that balance work and leisure will allow your work to be even better. This relates to our growth at school because it is very easy to burn out if you do not give yourself a break. The final step to living a life well-lived is being able to make genuine relationships. It is very easy to acknowledge that, yes, we do need to form meaningful relationships, but what can be tricky is dictating what makes a meaningful relationship. Life can be very difficult at times, and even more difficult if you are doing it alone. People can have unnecessary animosity toward each other, but you never know when or where you will meet someone that you may get along well with. “We all need each other, none of us is an island, an autonomous and independent "I," separated from the other, and we can only build the future by standing together, including everyone”(Why the Only Future Worth Building Includes Everyone, Pope Francis, QQC 7). This is saying that we do not have to go through the struggle alone. Part of a life-well lived is getting through the lows and celebrating the highs. These both are easier with someone by your side. These people also can be your inspiration. Everyone has their own things that inspire them. Like Father Hesburgh was inspired by his faith (Hesburgh, QQC 2), Charlie was inspired by the people he cared about. I hope you all today now have a stronger grasp on how you too can live a life well-lived. You can see that Charlie, like everyone, struggled throughout his life. He did this with physical struggles and social struggles. But he was able to overcome these obstacles. He was also able to https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/41088/modules/items/146492 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/41088/modules/items/146492 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/41088/modules/items/146562 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/41088/modules/items/146498 figure out what he loved and was able to make that a part of his life. He did not do it alone though. He was able to make meaningful relationships along the way. These are some of the key steps leading to Charlie living a life well-lived.