Muhad

Recently, when challenging, unpacking, and rebuilding my own ideas of living a life of purpose through meaningful work and through finding what it means to live a good life, I have found that the story of Muhad has been a useful tool to help me to think about these philosophical questions in a practical way. In the story of Muhad, explained by Thomas Moore, a man was visited by an angel and told, at various points in his life to move on from his current circumstance. Muhad jumped in the river with blind faith and he ended life as a well-respected and widely influential holy man. Two most integral lessons from this story are the power of faith and flexibility in one’s life and the importance of being able to recognize and follow signs. The …show more content…
The little king, bogged down with material objects and a gluttonous desire for leisure, does not have this same meaning in life. This assessment of Muhad as living the good life is congruent with Daniel Nettle’s definition of the third type of happiness. This third happiness, while it does not necessarily imply a wealth of positive experiences, does require self-awareness and self-trust enough to recognize the happiness and the ‘good life’ path. Nettle explains, “happiness level three is not something that can be so easily measured. As we have seen, assessing it involves making a judgment about what the good life consists of and the extent to which one’s life fulfills it” (Nettle, xi). As I attempt to move through my life in a meaningful way that brings about happiness and purpose in the sense of Nettle’s Happiness Three, I must first and foremost use introspection and enrich my own thoughts about my own meaning in life to become more self-aware. Hopefully this awareness will consequently lead to a sense of trust in myself that will allow me to recognize signs as they appear in my life and trust in myself that I will take the appropriate next