Life... and once it reaches it's end

I'm realizing that I have an issue of trying to sum up the totality of life based on current merit.
If the times are good then life is good but if the times are bad then life is not worth living.

The intrinsic problem with this view is that life is made whole only through the parts... while in the same breath it would be impossible to judge the quality of life with out first having an established standard.
So what is a good life? Is this question doomed to be eternally fluid. A sliding scale that never gains footing. Or are there universal guidelines?

Simply put there is no one simple answers.

Life is not all we experience, it's the way we encounter, the way we react.
And the best part is, it does not begin and end with us, nor is it summed up by others.

It's been so long since I've been afforded the opportunity to relax.
I am currently in the last half of my vacation and have some time to think... It has occurred to me that for almost the past 3 years I have worked a job I hate. Dated women I don't care for. And spent most of my waking moments trying to live up to this idea unseen.
I have not accomplished much in terms of my life goals... sure I did all the things on my list of new years resolutions but as for permanent decisions the past few years have been a gracious art of floundering.