If you live 80 years, you will have a total of 29200 days from birth till departure. If you are like me, you have already spent about half of these days. How have you spent these days? Have you spent your days fretting, worrying about the past or the future, running after endless TO DO lists, doing things you don't like, and wasting time on mind-numbing activities? If that is the case, would you like to continue the same way for remaining 15000 days? I hope your answer is NO. It should be NO. If you want to change or improve the pattern of how you spend your time, your days, and hence your life, here are a few small steps to make your life more enjoyable.
1. Unplug Unplug from TV, computer, iPod etc by consciously, actively and ruthlessly reducing your time consumed by these devices. These have pulled us away from real living. Fill the available time with pleasurable positive activities instead. Read, cook, play a sport, meet with friends, do something creative, meditate, go to the theater, look at the stars, go for a walk, exercise etc.
Take a small practical step, get two additional hours this week by unplugging and use these for a walk in nature.
2. Simplify Simplify your life by letting some things go. You can't do or be everything. Pick a few things, and enjoy them fully. If you have loads of material things that you don't use, give them away. Don’t carry regrets or ill feelings. Be quick to forgive and quick to forget. Remember, negative thoughts create negative feelings. Holding grudges and nurturing old wounds is unhealthy and makes you unhappy. Actively seek to stop negative thinking. Learn to live NOW. If negative thoughts and feelings are getting intrusive, do something distracting.
Practical step. Meditate for 30 minutes or cut your TO DO list to half.
3. Grow by Contributing 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. Share your knowledge, passions, skills, and time with someone else on a regular basis. Be kind to others. Improving one life can make a huge difference for that person and a ripple on the world. For you, it will be a great feeling.
Practical step. Donate to a charity or spend an hour teaching something to a child.
4. Appreciate Health When we feel good physically, we feel good mentally and emotionally and when we feel bad physically, we feel bad all over. It is hard to enjoy life when your physical health is poor. Appreciate the importance of good health and do some thing on daily basis to improve it.
Practical step. Spend 1 hour this week reading about healthy diet and half an hour to plan 5 healthy meals for the week,
5. Enjoy Enjoy Your Life. Play often. Have fun regularly. Get some exercise. Walk, bike, run, swim, dance, stretch, lift weight; what ever you enjoy, to take care of this remarkable house for your soul. Travel. There is so much to explore and see and enjoy. Pick some places that intrigue you. Plan some trips. Go outside frequently. Being in nature enlivens your soul and makes you feel connected to the world around you. There are more things in this world to enjoy than we could ever experience in one lifetime. If we are living in the framework of integrity, then pleasurable experiences should be pursued and enjoyed regularly--without guilt. Having fun is essential to savoring life.
Practical step. Find 3 new activities that you will enjoy and do these.
2 comments:
You've done a nice job with your blog! I became a follower. As an artist I love the quote by Danny Kaye.
Very nicely written by you everything. Living healthy and being active in activities like sports, dance, time with friends...enjoying the nature, all these are the things we actually ignore. But we forget these things help us live a better healthy lifestyle. And being postiive in life would always bring us closer to a happy healthy life. Nice thoughts and thanks for sharing them.
http://www.rachelspassion.blogspot.com
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