INCONTRO ROMANO 2011

LIFESTYLE: TRUE WELL-BEING

Well-being: a word rich in meaning

Humans are the only beings capable of living in countless ways. From the Stone Age to the era of modern technology, lifestyles have only multiplied. These lifestyles reflect a search for well-being which nowadays is considered to be the ideal way to live, work, rest and plan for the future even up to the ultimate moment before death.

A profound knowledge of a person´s true well-being must take into account all the dimensions of the human person. According to great philosophers of the classical civilizations there are three dimensions distinguishable in human beings: the body, the psyche and the spirit. In order to achieve true well-being we need to simultaneously address all three levels.

For 2011 Incontro Romano proposes the challenge of discovering a well-being that reflects a life that is truly worth living: a lifestyle that does not just promote material comfort, which ends up being a kind of superficial well-being, but that takes into consideration the totality of the person and results in authentic happiness.

Material Well-being: where personal growth takes place

To achieve happiness, we need material goods as a framework and instrument for personal improvement. Therefore, our relationship with things requires a proactive attitude especially in our work environment. At work, given the necessary interaction we have with others and with material things, we are provided with an opportunity for contributing to our personal growth in virtue (for example, in order, industriousness, temperance, joy, being considerate of others in small details, etc.).

Besides virtue, to achieve a lifestyle that reflects true well-being, it is also important to educate one´s sense of good taste. Such aesthetic sensitivity captures the harmony and beauty found in healthy relationships with others and in the material world we live in. Through the cultivation of good taste one learns to exercise personal freedom and to choose what is truly good in every situation – not just for oneself but also for others. Above all, good taste empowers one with the possibility of discovering the greatness that lies behind all material things: that creation is a gift for all humanity.

True well-being: a service, a gift, an encounter

True well-being does not mean isolating oneself from material things, but it does mean getting closer to others. Through making use of material things – at work, in our free time, in our search for comfort…-, we can share our happiness, enjoy life with others, rest, and at the same time serve. As St. Josemaría said: “Comfort, in a positive sense, is not luxury nor voluptuousness, but rather making life happy for our family and for others, so that everyone can serve God better.” (Conversations with Mons. Escrivá de Balaguer, n. 111, translation ours).

Material goods help us get closer to others to the degree in which we discover and use them as a means for better serving those around us. Constant care for concrete material details is an important way of showing true care for persons. Using material goods in order to serve helps us to be conscious of the fact it is a gift to be able to care for our fellow human begins and all of creation. Pope Benedict XVI takes this one step further and points out, ¨God touches us through material things, through gifts of creation that he takes up into his service, making them instruments of the encounter between us and Himself.¨ (Homily from the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday. Rome, 1-4-2010).