Online Custom «What Must You Love in order to Live a Good Life?» Essay Sample

The question of love has disturbed almost all human beings. It is generally believed that everyone loves and wants to be loved. Nevertheless, do people know what it is necessary to love in order to live a good life? According to the point of view of religions, such as Christianity and Islam, the essential objects of love are God and neighbors. Their opinion is refuted by rationalists who state that God and neighbors are too abstract notions to be loved. They advise that it is required to concentrate one’s attention on something concrete. The possible variants can be spouse, family, children, and so on. All these objects of love are possible, but not the most important ones. The person who does not love themselves is not able to love others. That is why, first of all, it is necessary to love yourself in order to enjoy life and share this positive feeling with others.

First, the love to one’s own personality is characterized by high productivity. The person who treats themselves from the positive point of view knows their own strong and weak sides and how to employ them in order to achieve the desired goal. In addition, they are confident in personal forces. It gives them an opportunity not only to choose the job which appeals to their skills but also to find creative styles of work in order to achieve the best possible results.

Second, the person who loves themselves strives for continuous improvement. They cannot allow themselves to deteriorate. That is why the persistent work is a tool for success for them. In addition, the desire to improve makes them be the engine of progress. In other words, they do not like to sit still, but try to generate new ideas with the aim to achieve higher goals.

Third, positive self-esteem is essential for psychological well–being. A person who is satisfied with their own personality does not suffer from such psychological illnesses as mental breakdown, depression, and inferiority complex. The main reason for it is a positive attitude towards dealing with the world and continuous hope that it is possible to solve even the most difficult problem. In addition, self-esteem lies in the basis of “I-concept”. It is a combination of the person’s views about themselves (both personally and gained from the opinion of others) which shapes its understanding of the world. If self-esteem is positive, so is the attitude towards outer life.

Fourth, a person who loves themselves does not have any personal prejudices. As they do not worry about such ideas as “extra pounds” or “color of hair”, all their time is dedicated to enjoying the life and its beauty. In addition, the absence of prejudices means the presence of stable and unenvious relationships with others. If a person is satisfied with themselves, there is no use for them to be angry at someone, because he or she is slimmer or has better results in something.

Fifth, love to one’s own personality helps to understand the nature of love. It is impossible to experience this feeling towards others while not knowing what it is. In other words, people may use the love to themselves as the alphabet of love in relations with others. The proof of it can be found even in the childhood. If a person leaves a baby for upbringing to wild animals (Mowgli syndrome) that do not express the love towards themselves, but live only with the help of primitive instincts, it will be impossible for this child in the future to learn what love is and how to express it in the society.

Finally, a person who knows love can share it with the world. In other words, love to one’s own personality is the most important precondition of successful relationships with others. In other words, the outer life with all social activities is the reflection of the inner world. If it is rich, balanced, and positive, the collaborations with others may also be so.

On the other hand, the principle of love to own personality in order to live a happy life may be criticized. The myth about Narcissus is a vivid example of it. The excessive love of a young boy to himself brings him nothing but death. He is not able to leave admiring his reflection in the water and drowns in lake in such a way. Nevertheless, it is necessary to differentiate between egoism or narcissism and normal love. Egoism can be compared with obsession by one’s own beauty and knowledge. Those who follow narcissism do not have in their life the place for anything but themselves. However, in case of normal love to one’s own personality, everything is quite different. Love is used as a transmitter of this feeling from the inner life to the outer one. In other words, it gives people the opportunity to treat the world and other human beings with positive emotions. That is why it is necessary to be careful in order not to step over the thin line between love and egoism.

To sum up, love to one’s own personality is an essential precondition of a happy life. It gives the opportunity to be productive, believe in one’s own forces, enjoy the life without prejudices, strive for continuous improvement, learn the basic rules of love, and share this feeling with other people. Nevertheless, love can not only be a helpful tool, but also a dangerous one. People who cannot control their love to their own personalities become obsessed with themselves. Egoism makes its victims concentrate the attention only on themselves and deprive of the opportunity to enjoy the life which is full of other treasures. That is why it is necessary to be careful in order not to turn into true Narcissus.