Quality Of Life Depends On What Makes You Happy

Every day we hear or read about quality of life. However, it is rarely clearly defined.

We are told that we must seek it and reach it through this or that. This term even associates with the principle of “healthy living” and can even make you feel guilty for not being “as healthy” as you should be.

The truth is that the concept of “quality of life” was popularized through economics, at a time when the thesis of “total quality” to address industrial processes was gaining some importance.

It was felt then that the industry needed to produce items with as few defects as possible in the best possible time.

This thought pattern was transposed to the field of the subjective and we then began to speak of “quality of life” to refer to the processes which aimed at an existence “with the fewest possible flaws”.

Thus, several patterns of “quality” of life began to take hold.

However, what does “quality of life” really mean? Is it a general concept that can be applied to all cases, or, on the contrary, a concept that each person constructs individually?

What is quality of life?

The concept of quality of life encompasses several dimensions: one objective and another subjective.

The characteristics of objective quality of life are defined by the administrative world and are as follows:

• Physical well-being: good health
• Material well-being: sufficient income and a solid heritage
• Social well-being: good social and community relations
• Emotional well-being: self-esteem, emotional intelligence, spirituality
• Development: productivity, education

According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), these variables are reduced to three: life expectancy, education and income.

Several tests have been set up with the aim of measuring the quality of life of people, cities and countries.

All are based on the characteristics described and on other derivations of these, such as the environment, the social and political environment, the handicap index, etc.

On the other hand, there is the concept of “quality of life” defined by different currents of psychology.

In this approach, objective indicators are still as important as ever, but are reorganized according to the psychological well-being of each person.

According to these schools of thought, quality of life is defined according to two variables: living conditions and individual satisfaction.

Living conditions refer to the material aspects of existence (physical health, social relations, functional activities or profession).

Satisfaction, on the other hand, refers to the degree of conformity that a person feels in relation to their living conditions. In other words, it indicates how good a person feels about the life they lead.

The individual mark in the quality of life

The concept of quality of life has generated heated controversy in the world of psychology. The problem arises when we delve a little deeper into the variable “life satisfaction” and the principle of “adaptation”.

As far as satisfaction is concerned, it can be said that being in accordance with one’s living conditions is not always synonymous with “quality”, or, in other words, with mental health.

A dictator, for example, can be quite fine with the life he leads. At the end of the day, he has absolute power and keeps a few submissives around him with his strength.

However, from an emotional well-being point of view, this would not reveal a quality of life.

It is a purely narcissistic satisfaction, a “fullness” which depends on the circumstances and not on his constructive effort.

In other words, an absurd condition which gives him a fleeting satisfaction and which engenders the beginning of an interior decadence.

If we always take this same example, we can also question the concept of adaptation. Can we say that the one who adapts to a reality of this kind enjoys a quality of life?

It is certain that he can obtain benefits from this adaptation. However, he undeniably pays the price with anguish, fear and lack of freedom.

So, how do you really define the principle of “quality of life”? Perhaps the first thing we should say is that “quality” is an attribute that relates more to goods than to people.

We can also affirm that life is a reality which is lived and not a process which is managed.

In addition, it is clear that certain elements enrich a person’s life and lead to wholeness. However, these same elements can also impoverish or limit the existence of another person.

There is no such thing as a “model” of life, just as there is no “model” of being human. During a war, the fighters consider that the ideal is a cold and courageous leader.

However, in peacetime, the ideal is one who manages to tolerate and promote understanding.

Ultimately, what enriches your life is living it for what makes you happy and what improves the lives of those around you.

You don’t have to be the richest, the best trained, or the best diet plan to get what is called “quality of life”.

What makes your life worth living is your ability to appreciate yourself, accept yourself, and avoid hurting yourself. And this will no doubt be reflected in a constructive position in the lives of others.

Images courtesy of May Ann Licudine and Claudia Tremblay.