Dare to Live
Dare to LIVE!
I was born cautious. I always had a Plan B. I am scared of uncertainty but recently, this has made me workaholic and anxious. I realized each and everyone of us are only given one chance to live this life. So I decided to LIVE. And not just live as in be alive, but I decided to really embrace life.
I didn’t want to look back into my life when I grow old and regret that I waited and waited for the right time to be happy. I don’t want to check my friends’ Facebook posts showing how much they are enjoying their lives while I slave away working. I decided to change.
Fall in Love With The Life You Have
Many of envision being happy at some point in our lives. We keep on hoping and waiting for the perfect moment where the stars align and then we will finally be happy. But what if you can be happy right here right now? Well you can, and you owe it to yourself to be happy right now.
But how do yo do that exactly? I have asked this question too. I have often asked how could I be happy with what I have right now? How could I smile if my life is not the life I want to have? Well, you need to change that. How? You need to fall in love with the life you have.
You need to start choosing happiness and seeing the good side of the life that is given to you. Stop complaining all the time and start living.
1. Stop Complaining – Well most of us love to pine and just wallow how miserable we are. But the more you complain, the more miserable you get. It’s a vicious cycle that we need to choose to get out of. If something bad happens you complain and you tend to see everything falling apart. You need to decide to see the positive side of life in order to be truly happy.
2. Start doing the things you love – I know you don’t have time and I know life demands so much of you but you gotta fuel your soul somehow. You need to start doing things that you love. If you always hide the brushes and paints in the drawer they will keep on calling out to you. You soul knows exactly what you need, you need to listen to it.
3. Start doing things for YOU – Have you ever thought why are you doing things? Have you ever woke up in the morning happy because you love what you’ll do during the day? Sure we all have our down days but have you ever really did things for you to be happy? Well you should. I know you may find your job dreadful but have you ever thought that you are one of the few people who could actually do what you actually do.
4. Count your blessings – If you are reading this, you are not homeless, you have a smartphone or a laptop or a pc or an access to one. Many people out there don’t even have clean drinking water. You need to keep on looking at life and start finding how wonderful it is. You need to learn to fall in love with your life through gratitude. Gratitude is a very positive energy that calls out to the Universe and blesses you bountifully.
5. Breathe – Yes, it’s that simple. In order for you to fall in love with the life you are given, you need to breathe. You need to learn to connect to your breath. Your breath connects both your body and soul. If you learn how to connect both then you will learn how to manage your thoughts, feelings and emotions. You will learn how to smile in moments where you just want to tear your head off. Through your breath you can learn to be strong and powerful.
Now It’s Time to Live
OK, so now you know how to fall in love with your life, so now we move on to how to really live. I don’t mean for you to withdraw all you money and run away to Timbuktu and be a monk or something (unless that is what really makes you happy). You need to learn the very common statement: work-life balance.
Work-life balance is not about work-family balance only or work-hobby or work-relationship balance. The statement says work + life; underscore the word LIFE. What does this mean? It means taking time to live and be happy.
1. Find you “WHY?” – You need to know “WHY” you wake up in the morning. You need to know why you are working so hard you need to know the reasons for why you do the things that you do. Is your why because of your mortgage? A new car? To travel? For your family? Or is your why or YOU?
No, choosing YOU as your reason is not selfish. Because you need to be happy. If you are happy you will spread happiness to the people around you. The other things on your list are not unimportant but you need to learn how to prioritize.
2. Do it NOW! – Stop putting things off because you’re scared or because you think you’ll have have time in the future. Your future self is watching you now through your memories; and your future self will thank you for taking the plunge.
Is it going back to school or learning Mandarin? Is it finally traveling alone? Is it taking time to play with your kids? You gotta do it now. Now is the perfect time and if you keep putting things off, you might end up lonely at the end of your life.
3. Everyday, find a reason to smile – Days can be dreadful, I know it, but you need to do something or find something everyday that will bring a smile to your face. If you can’t find it, then you must be the reason for another to smile. When you extend your hand to others in the moment that you feel low, you will feel an instant lift. By smiling everyday, you will have a year of smiles. A year of smiles gives you wonderful memories. All these put together gives you a wonderful life.
4. Feel it! – Don’t be a zombie in your own life. Don’t just drudge through it. You need to welcome every experience you have. Bad experiences teach us lessons, good experiences give you good memories. Participate in each and every moment of your life.
LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL
It is your life and only YOU CAN CHOOSE TO LIVE IT.
Live Today
Today is the day. The past is gone and the future is unknown. We may die tomorrow so live today. These words are not mind. Many wise people have spoken them. I am sharing this with you because I want you to be ALIVE AND HAPPY. There may be difficult days ahead but if you choose to live today, each day will be something to learn from, remember or smile about!
So go ahead! LIVE!!!