18 May Happiness is making the most of life
A few months ago I went through a rough patch health wise. Although it was nothing serious I experienced a few weeks when I was far from my best and as a result, I didn’t have the energy levels I normally have (partly due to not sleeping that well). Secondary to this I had to cut back on my normal exercise regime which unfortunately, exacerbated the situation by taking away one of my greatest sources of energy.
Anyway, when I’d recovered to a reasonable level I returned to my normal exercise program but as many of you would be well aware, you can loose quite a bit of fitness in just a few weeks so in my first few sessions back I didn’t work nearly as hard as I normally would. I was also careful not to put myself in a position where I might relapse so although I did all the right things and made all the right moves I was, in reality, taking it pretty easy.
Now one morning, as my son came down to watch me, as he often does, he commented in his inimitable style of blatant honesty that I didn’t seem to be doing things the way I normally did. And although I was aware of this and although I was consciously pacing myself back into full intensity I stopped and thought for a minute about the way I live my life.
Now I know I’m not alone here so I pose these questions to you for your considerationê¢__‘Ô_
– Are you working yourself as hard as you possibly could?
– Are you living your life as intensely as you possibly could?
– Are you making the most of your opportunities and of your talents and abilities?
– Or are you just going through the motions?
Stress and depression are serious issues in our society and one of the more significant contributors to these problems is our inability to pace ourselves through our lives effectively. It’s very important, for your happiness and for your health, to ensure you gain enough sleep and to take regular, short breaks … but that being said, we only get one shot at this thing called life.
So with the caveat that rest and relaxation are important, how about giving some thought to the following strategies for making the most of your life?
– Practice living and being in the moment (actively switch off your automatic pilot sometimes and consciously focus on what you’re doing)
– Practice appreciation and gratitude in the moment (focus on all the good things about what you’re doing and try to avoid thinking ahead too much or predicting the future)
– Do one thing at a time (multi-tasking is OK as long as the tasks are routine or mundane but to get the most out of an activity and to perform at your best stay focused on one thing at a time)
– Regularly ask yourself if you’re really doing the best you can (and if not, push for that extra 10 or 20 percent)
As we frequently say here at The Happiness Institute life’s too short not to be happy and life has too many opportunities not to take as many as you can by the scruff of the neck and make the most of them.