Inspired and Blessed by Bob Acebedo
Inspired & Blessed

What Matters Most In Life?

Feb 2, 2021, 10:00 PM
Bob Acebedo

Bob Acebedo

Columnist

What matters most is not how much we have acquired, attained or achieved, but rather how happily we loved (St. Teresa of Calcutta) and lived a meaningful life.

In Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s classic book, “The Little Prince,” a pilot whose aircraft is forced down in the Sahara Desert meets a little prince from another planet who seeks the secret of what is important in life.

In one instance, the prince meets a fox who promises the gift of that secret.

When it was time to say goodbye, the fox revealed his secret: “It’s quite simple: one sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”

What's Invisible To The Eye

Our devastating experience and lingering wrestling with the egregious COVID-19 pandemic have prompted us to take a closer look at what are the bare “essentials” in life – which, as our excerpt from the Little Prince suggests, are “invisible to the eyes.”

Of course, I’m not implying that COVID-19 is the “essential one”, as it has remained undeniably elusive as ever.

But there’s no denying that COVID-19 has inexorably facilitated more drastic changes: it restricted our mobility, deprived us of some “freedoms”, and wantonly pushed us to the confines of our homes; with entertainment places closed and social events regulated, it expropriated our paltry luxuries or the things we used to enjoy; it radically altered our educational system, work environment, and places of worship.

Essential Truths In Life
However, setting aside these glaring curtailments, if not inconveniences, contrived by COVID-19, we’ve been likewise accommodated with the “essential truths” of life: that we’re all equal.

And if COVID-19 treats us all equally, perhaps we should, too; that our health is as precious as our relationship with others and God; that it’s only the essentials that we need in life as opposed to the luxuries that we value; that our family and home-life is of utmost importance; that we were created not just to work or have a job but to help one another, which is basically life’s purpose; that we’re all in the same boat called “Earth” and hence we should care for it, etc.

But, candidly so, with or without COVID-19, what are those that really matter in life?

Rigors Of Life

When we were small children, what filled our fancy were all kiddie stuff: nourishment, the attention of those around us, and fun.

From school age to college, we dreamed of being more successful than our peers – from the point of view of work, fame and wealth.

Then when we were already tilting at the windmills of a career, we learned the ricks of “I-use-you” and “You-use-me” to climb up the corporate ladder.

And finally, when we had a family, we aimed for security, stability and lasting success.

Self-Trancendence

The psychologist par excellence Abraham Maslow cited five basic needs for a fulfilling life: 1) physiological (food, clothing, shelter and sex); 2) security; 3) social; 4) self-esteem, and 5) self-actualization.

However, scholars recently unearthed a 6th need – “self-transcendence”.

Though Maslow didn’t mention this in public before his death, he in fact described self-transcendence as the attainment of intrinsic values like truth, goodness, perfection, excellence, fairness, etc.

One’s full potential is not realized through self-actualization alone; one must go above this and also attain intrinsic values through self-transcendence.

What Matters Most

In other words, hence, it’s the “essentials” that make our life matter. The ultimate values of goodness or fairness, love, truth, and (life) purpose are the essentials of life – because they make life meaningful, significant, or worth living.

These essentials are considered transcendental because they go beyond or surpass Maslow’s physiological, security, social, and self-esteem needs.

These essentials are not just physical but metaphysical realities, if not spiritual in nature. And, as the fox revealed to the little prince, these essentials are not visible to the eyes but are beholden or felt by the heart, where true happiness resides.

But at life’s end, what really matters most?

As it has been said, “At the end of life, what really matters is not what we bought, but what we built; not what we got, but our character; and not our success, but our significance.”

In sum, at life’s end, what matters most is not how much we have acquired, attained or achieved, but rather how happily we loved (St. Teresa of Calcutta) and lived a meaningful life.


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