When
we get older we start to see the reality of life's fleeting nature. We
can use this knowledge as an opportunity to see each day, each moment as
a golden opportunity for enjoyment, happiness, and love.
If
we live to age 90, from birth to death we have 32,850 days on Earth.
Our Earth has been around 4.55 billion years. Our life here is just a
blip.
This awareness provokes a lot of soul searching for many of us. I've thought, read and studied a lot about what comprises a quality life and have determined five areas that are key to enjoying life to the fullest.
1. Living in integrity. This
is something you must define yourself by creating your own personal
operating system. But in general it includes living in alignment with
your values and your personal/religious beliefs; being authentic and
honest with yourself and others; and living in balance financially.
2. Making a contribution. Whether
through our work or otherwise, we all need to feel we have a purpose
and have made some mark on the world. We need to feel that our lives
have some intrinsic meaning. Having a passion and sharing it with the
world provides tremendous joy and fulfillment.
3. Having good relationships. We
need loving, supportive, and healthy relationships with romantic
partners, family, friends, and co- workers. We certainly know the impact
of bad relationships. Good ones offer us joy, contentment, and
connectedness.
4. Being healthy. When
we feel good physically, we feel good mentally and emotionally. We we
feel bad physically, we feel bad all over. It is hard to enjoy life when
your physical health is poor.
5. Having pleasure. There
are so many things in this big world to enjoy--more than we could ever
experience in one lifetime. If we are living in the framework our
integrity, then pleasurable experiences should be pursued and enjoyed
regularly--without guilt. Having fun is essential to savoring life.
As
you examine these five areas in your own life, remember that first
defining your integrity and creating your own personal operating system
will make it far easier to define the other four areas. When we live
outside of our integrity, it casts a shadow over all other areas of our
lives.
Here are 26 ideas for savoring life and living it to the fullest in these five critical areas:
1. Define or refine your values and personal operating system. Know what is important to you, and seek to live in accordance with that.
2. Restore your integrity wherever you have stepped out of it. Make amends, correct the situation, shift the balance. This will reduce agitation and guilt.
3. Be true to yourself. Be
authentic. Look for ways that you are pretending, acting to impress, or
living out some other person's expectations rather than your own.
4. Examine your job. You
spend many hours a day in this job. If you don't love it, or at least
like it, you are frittering away a good chunk of your life. This is
imperative for a happy life. Take control of your career.
5. Know your passions. If
you don't know what you are passionate about, find out. Take the time
to do this, and then find a way to regularly incorporate your passion
into your daily life. Discovering your passion dramatically increases
happiness.
6. Give to others daily. Share
your knowledge, passions, skills, and time with someone else on a
regular basis. This doesn't require a grand gesture. Impacting one life
can make a huge ripple on the world. It feels good.
7. Show kindness. In
the smallest interactions, be kind. Choose kindness over being right,
indignant, smarter, richer, or too busy. Kindness feels good to you and
to the recipient. And it's infectious.
8. Release some stuff. If
you have loads of material things that you don't use, release them.
Give them away to someone who can use them. This is tremendously
satisfying.
9. Release some money. If you have plenty of money, use it for good. Contribute it in a way that makes one person or the whole world a better place.
10. Just listen. Listen
to someone's story, their pain, their joyful event, their boring
anecdote, their fears. Give someone the gift of really hearing them.
11. Nurture your friendships. Be the initiator. Express your feelings for them. Learn more about your friends. Be there for good and bad times.
12. Be the person you want in others. Define what you want in a relationship, then be that person yourself. Like attracts like.
13. Let it go. Be quick to forgive and quick to forget. Holding grudges and nurturing old wounds is unhealthy and makes you unhappy.
14. Know when to let go. However,
some relationships can pull you down. Take a look at those in your
life. Is it time to let go? How much energy are you giving away to them?
15. Expand your network. Actively meet new people. They can enhance your life, introduce you to new ideas and opportunities, pleasures, and other new friends. Studies show that people with good networks are more resilient dealing with the adversities in life.
16. Love yourself. A healthy love for yourself with healthy self-confidence creates healthy relationships.
17. Communicate often. We
so often misunderstand and misinterpret one another. Or we say things
we don't really mean. Learn healthy communication skills and use them
often, particularly in your primary relationship.
18. Educate yourself on nutrition. Read
books, blogs, or magazines about proper eating for good health. Then
eat that way. If you are unhealthy, it will undermine your happiness in
all areas of your life.
19. Go outside every day. Sunlight
boosts your mood and provides vitamin D. Being in nature enlivens your
soul and makes you feel connected to the world around you.
20. Get moving. You
know this. Get some exercise. Walk, bike, run, swim, dance, stretch,
lift weights. You can make it fun. Take care of this remarkable house
for your soul.
21. Cut back, simplify, reduce stress. Find
balance in your life by letting some things go. You can't do or be
everything. Pick a few things, and enjoy them fully. Identify where you
are stressed, and deal with it.
22. Find an outlet. There are difficult times in every life. Find someone, a professional coach,
counselor, minister, mentor, or friend, who can help you through them. Talking
about your problems with someone trusted helps you heal and cope and
stay mentally and emotionally healthy.
23. Play often. Play shouldn't end at childhood. Have fun regularly. Define what is fun for you and go do it every week.
24. Increase your travel (Local or abroad). The
world truly is your oyster. There is so much to explore and see and
enjoy. Pick some places that intrigue you. Save your money. Plan some
trips.
25. Unplug. Television
and computer have pulled us away from real living. Actively reduce the
amount of time you spend in front of them. Fill that time with
pleasurable activities instead. Read, cook, play a sport, meet with
friends, do something creative, , meditate, go to the theater,
camp, look at the stars, chop wood, carry water.
26. Think less. Be more. Act more. Negative
thoughts create negative feelings. Actively seek to stop negative
thinking, and just be in the moment. If negative thoughts and feelings
are getting intrusive, do something distracting.
Imagine living this way!
Pick one of the activities above and savor it.
Imagine living this way!
Pick one of the activities above and savor it.
It
takes thought, planning, and a dose of wisdom to create a fulfilling life--a
life that you can savor. Experience teaches us these lessons, and
wisdom helps us to embrace them.
Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT
To your greater fulfillment and success,
Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT
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contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com or Mobile:323-854-1713
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