In looking at a full life, I didn't know whether a dignified life meant living by a comfortable notion of dignity, or by living well. Certainly, I wasn't going to be the latter, because I had never been the latter. What I did know was that I wanted a life in which I was living in such a way that I was, if not living a dignified life, then a life that allowed me to lead a living dignified life.
We can never, and I mean this in the most respectful sense, have a pure life in which we live only for the sake of self-fulfillment. The stress of living must necessarily be on living well. We cannot ask ourselves what it means to live well, to insist on a life which expresses our dignity, and then declare ourselves to be miserable or unhappy at the moment when our duties are most strenuous or distressing. If we want to be full of life, it is because we are alive, in a dignified way, a life in which we are living in a dignified manner. If we are talking about being full of life in the most dignified way, we have to ask ourselves what it means for us to have a life in which we are living successfully. We may think that we can achieve this by living well, but then again, we may not want this at all. Indeed, although it is a reasonable expectation, living well cannot, by itself, guarantee us a dignified life.
Living successfully does not mean living without difficulties or problems, or a life that is free of suffering. These are good things, even if they are not necessarily great things. To think of life as a journey is one of the most dignified ideals for living. Indeed, if life is a journey of suffering and difficulty, then it is no longer a journey worth taking. There is nothing dignified about a journey of suffering. Living well does not mean living without problems. We cannot ask ourselves what it means to live well, to insist on a life which expresses our dignity, and then declare ourselves to be miserable or unhappy at the moment when our duties are most strenuous or distressing. Indeed, living well does not even mean living in a dignified manner, for we can only do this, if we are living well, by living in a dignified manner.
If we want to be full of life, it is because we are alive, in a dignified way, a life in which we are living in a dignified manner. If we are talking about being full of life in the most dignified way, we have to ask ourselves what it means for us to have a life in which we are living successfully. Living well, as a matter of fact, means living in a dignified manner, in a living dignified way. This means living life in a dignified way, not a life in which we are making a show of ourselves.
Indeed, if we want to live well, we have to think of living a dignified life. This may be difficult to understand. People are not often interested in living dignified lives, but if we want to live well, this is what we have to do, because it is a way of living, which means that it is a life that we have chosen for ourselves, in a dignified way. A dignified life is living well, which involves living a dignified life, in a dignified way. This is what we mean by living a dignified life, which is living a life in a dignified way.
Living a dignified life is living a life in which we are living positively, in a dignified manner. If we want to have a life in which we are living positively, and in a dignified way, we cannot, for example, enjoy ourselves, indulge in frivolity, or gratify ourselves in a way that is not a dignified way. Indeed, we can still have some of the pleasures of life, as long as we remain in the highest standards of living. We can indulge ourselves, while we are full of life, in a dignified way. We can have a dignified life without luxuries and pleasures.
Because it has been always hard to live, and that fact is not hidden, people chose practicality and sometimes, it compromises their chance of living in a righteous way.
Like what you said, living in a dignified way is really not easy, explaining why people on this path are really only few. But it is achievable. People walking in this path can find more happiness and peace in their own way because they know they are doing the right thing.
Others, however, may have their own reasons why they didn't not choose living a dignified life. We are not here to ridicule them, but we are still hopin that they will soon, go to the right path.
Living a dignified life, is hard, but WORTH it.