Do you know how to, Live Life Fully, Completely and Happily?
Are you living a full life? Now, don’t tell me you are busy, we can all be busy, but busyness is not necessarily the way to live life fully. Filling up your days with “stuff” and meetings and internet surfing and rushing from one place to the next may use up time but it is not how to live life fully! Are you living or simply coping, managing, getting along and existing?
Oscar Wilde had a rather jaded view of man’s capacity to truly live life fully…
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all. - Oscar Wilde
I would challenge that; many people are aware of that little voice in their heads urging them to live life; they just don’t know how to put that into action. As Emerson puts it…
We are always getting ready to live but never living. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
It seems to me, that if you are sensing dissatisfaction in your life it is because you are not living it fully, and yet you CAN do something about that. There are people in this world that leave an impression on us, a deep lasting impression. We look at their lives with a sense of awe at their accomplishments. It is how I reflect on my dear friend Wayne Dyer’s life- with admiration and love. However, you do not have to change the whole world to live life fully. I have friends who are very busy, but vaguely unhappy and others who seem to have all the time in the world for their friends, family and community and who are serenely content. To live life fully does not have to mean frantically juggling an overwhelming schedule of events and work commitments and family visits.
What is a well-lived life? What is the story beneath their story that makes you pay attention?…What has touched you most deeply through the life of someone you’ve loved?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-cara-barker/life-well-lived_b_847772.html
Dr Cara Baker invites us to consider how when we remember loved ones who have passed, our memories become alive when we think of how they have touched our lives. The greatest philanthropist in the world may not have been a kind man. The most successful businesswoman with awards to her name may have been petty and spiteful. HOW we live our lives in relation to others is often far more important than badges of honor and trappings of success.
My radio show guest this week actually challenges the idea of whether we even die…perhaps that makes it even more important to live a full life? Listen to her here - MY RADIO SHOW
Questions to ask yourself about whether you live life fully
- Do you have time in the day to smile at a stranger?
- Do you spend quiet time and chatting time with family?
- Do you have time to reflect on your life? How often?
- Are you always busy working to please someone else?
- Have you learned something new this year, month, week?
- Have you fulfilled a dream of yours in the last five years?
- Have you watched a sunrise/sunset this year?
- Have you said NO to someone’s request this month and NOT felt guilty?
- Have you said YES to someone and felt wonderful?
- Have you mastered your inner critic yet?
To live life fully you need to trust yourself
How you live a full life is entirely up to you…it is not defined by somebody else or society’s view of a “successful” life. A life well lived is more about your impact than what you own or leave behind as an inheritance. A dear friend of mine when asked why she became a teacher, said, “It was a mixture of practicality and idealism…practical, I had two kids to raise on my own and at least I would get holidays with them. Idealism- I wanted to make a difference” Her impact, her live well lived is the time she spends with her children, raising them to be good men and all the students she has taught, giving them a chance in the world. My impact is my mission to bring happiness to as many people as possible; to show them that you can choose happiness, you don’t have to wait for it!
A full life is one where you feel a sense of achievement in all you do; despite setbacks. This includes all those small things that so many people undervalue. Walking my dogs has two impacts for me; good exercise and the pleasure they get from being outside. This reflects back to me, gratitude that I can give them that pleasure and gratitude that they show affection to me. Being grateful for the small things in life fills your life with positive energy.
Trusting your own instincts is a very important part of living life fully. When you feel overwhelmed by your busy life you feel anxious and not in control. Your mind and body are probably telling you that this is not the way you want to live and you need to listen. Sometimes we need to step back from our lives and re-evaluate what we are doing. If this does not feel like a true life but instead as if you are living the life others expect from you then stop for a moment. Take some time to really think about WHY you are living this way. Try these steps to help you determine how to live life fully on your terms.
- Give yourself time to think away from distraction - try meditation or simply a long walk outside, alone
- Write down 3 things your really want to do but have never had the courage to do
- Write down three things you HAVE done that you are proud of - truly proud of for yourself
- Write down what you think your impact on others has been so far
- Write a paragraph describing yourself.
When you have done these exercises, put them away and don’t look at them for at least a week, then re-read what you have written and see whether anything has changed in your own mind. Why do this? We sometimes are very hard on ourselves and depending on our mood may write in a negative or positive fashion. Looking back later at what you write gives you perspective.
Decide how to live life fully for yourself
I am not here to tell you how to live your life, nobody should. I am here to help people find their way to happiness and develop techniques to shift their energy field to the positive. When you are happy it is amazing how much more you can achieve and how easy it is to live life fully. If you have this nagging feeling that your life is not how you want it to be then make a decision to change it, that is the first step, an intention to change. If you want my help making that step, and later ones, then email me or book a free call with me. To live life fully you need to embrace change, smile, and step out on that journey…you can do it if you want to!
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