Do you feel like you're going through life 'sleep-walking'? Do you think there was more freedom for you? Will you want to see more of an adventure? Can you think there was more time for you? Would you like to see more love? Are you dreading Monday mornings?
Are you really struggling to work out how to truly live life? You're far from isolated, if so. The unfortunate thing is that, having never even seen what life has to offer, most people go through life.
What you need to realize is that the cage created by your own mind is all that binds you to a life you don't want to live. It doesn't mean that you can just hope for a better one, but it does mean that you can strive diligently to enjoy it to the fullest.
Often it appears like life comprises an limitless supply of days.
When I was younger, I wondered about this for sure. There will be an endless pool of other possibilities, no matter how long I kept a grudge or how long I waited to do what I wanted. That's what I felt back then, at least.
Perhaps it's a rite of passage from infancy through maturity, the time that you know that life is already unfolding, and that's what you're assured. When you just know it mentally, it doesn't really hit you, like you know your ABCs, state capitals, and other specific facts.
It hits you when you sense it anyway. Declines in your fitness. You're missing someone you love. Your life is rocked by a disaster. It's not until you know that all life fades that you see an asset now, and that's a scarce one.
But that's maybe meaningless. Perhaps leading a positive, passionate life has nothing to do with its length and its breadth in terms of everything.
Create a bucket list and start checking things off. One day, you're going to die, but before you do, see as much of this universe as you can.
Set goals and write them down. Set targets for cycles of months , years, 5 years, and 10 years. For any stretch of your life, know what you want to do and make sure you look around to see if you have really made the change you want. This list will change continuously and you will not fulfill each of your goals, but writing down your goals will make it more likely that you will attain them.
Don’t live for others. Depending on the standards placed upon you by others, whether it be your parents, peers, or society in general, do not choose your direction in life.
Don’t complain. You can whine about it if you're not satisfied about anything about your life, or you can actively try to improve it. Which are you going to choose?
Don’t be jealous. Not because it's morally wrong, but because envy is an impulse that's damaging. It's also an indication that you're not enjoying your life to the fullest. People who are happy will enjoy the achievements of other people. People who are not happy, by depressive feelings, fill up their emotional vacuum.
It’s OK to fail. Not doing something is the best way to prevent defeat. Don't care about losing ... that's how you excel. In comparison, it's actually just a disappointment if you stop trying.
Overcome fear of failure by visualizing the worst case scenario. Confronting the own imaginable nightmare is a perfect way to conquer the fear of disappointment. What's the worse thing that's going to happen if you try it and fail? Write it down, and write down what it will take for you to get back to where you are today. You'll notice 99.9 percent of the time that the worse case situation isn't even as terrifying as you figured it would be and your own attitude is the only thing holding you back. You may want to rethink the .1 percent of the time that failure would drive you beyond a point of no return (so essentially, death or life changing physical damage).
Don’t gossip. Sure, for the time being, it could make you feel better about yourself. Yet, internally and publicly, it may have negative implications.
Take care of your body. Feed well, have a decent night's sleep and workout what you can. Via the fleshy meat vehicle we call our bodies, the only link with this planet is. Take care of it well.
Take care of your mind. Stop feeding a steady stream of garbage into it. It's all right to have a little downtime, just don't waste every free hour watching real estate TV, watching gossip sites, reviewing sports scores, and doing other activities that need little mental resources. In its relentless bombardment of negativity and biased sensationalism, even the news will rot your brain.
Live consciously. We all fall into ruts and habits that we use to get through the day, but on this planet, we have only a finite amount of days. Don't put life on auto-pilot, live purposefully. Just really ask yourself, why do I do this? If, without a good response, you wake up so many mornings in a row, maybe it's time to make a move.
Overcome your fears. We all have stuff in our lives, whether it's our situations or our personal shortcomings that prevent us from doing things that we really want to do. If you should embrace it, rationalize it down, or confront your fears. Which are you going to choose?
Love your parents and cherish them. Give them all the attention you have while they are still alive. It's easy to take them for granted if you've been lucky enough to have caring parents, and they've always been theirs for you. The case won't always be that.
For real tomorrow never comes