Stop for a moment in your busy day and press pause. Reflect. Just for a bit. Be still and be calm. Allow yourself to look around you quietly and honestly. Ask yourself. Is this the life you truly want to live?
So often people are caught up in the business of the day. Work, family commitments, financial concerns, day to day routine and chores – the list is endless. Then when people do eventually stop, they can lean towards things like social media or television as form of escape. Or alcohol or food as a way of sometimes suppressing emotions or combatting difficult feelings. It is very rare that individuals care out the room and space for silence. Quietness where they truly reflect on the way that they are living.
So, try it – even if it’s only for ten minutes.
Look around you. How do you feel about the various parts of your life? Are you satisfied with the way you are living? Think about all the different areas – do you find time to exercise? Are you working towards something that enables you to feel a sense of achievement? Do you see your friends? Are you making time to be sociable? But at the same time, it is also important to ask if you re charge properly? If you take time for you and invest in the things that you need – such as the right nutrition, the right amount of sleep etc. If you are in a relationship, is it getting enough of your time and attention? If you have children, are you investing in the relationship that you have with them? How do you laugh? What makes you feel good? In essence what makes you feel truly alive?
These are all very important questions to ask yourself and while they may feel like a lot, if you break them down and take them step by step you can then find the room and space to truly evaluate where things are at.
Take the following list. Break it down and look at each section of your life. Are you satisfied with each of these areas? If you are then that is brilliant. But if some of them need time and attention, then it is important to think about what you need to do and how you need to go about it.
- Health and wellbeing – this includes things like exercise, sleep , the right nutrition , a moderate relationship with alcohol etc
- Work – this includes things like job fulfilment and satisfaction, the right work life balance etc
- Relationships – this includes things like friendships, partners, family etc. Are you spending quality time with the people you want to invest in?
- Finances – this includes things like savings, paying off debts, working towards certain goals or provisions for the future.
- Achievement – this includes things like goal setting, learning new skills, working towards something that gives you a sense of satisfaction
- Purpose – this includes things like the meaning we attach to the life we live. The direction we are heading in and where we would like to get too – be.
These are just an example of some of the areas in our life. There are many more to explore and consider.
Ultimately it is all about a sense of fulfilment. Creating the life, you want to live is important. Living the life, you want to live is the goal. So if you press pause and find that some parts of your life are feeling out of alignment or neglected in some way. Then it is time to start making some significant changes. Start today by identifying what it is that feels missing. Only then can you start to begin to make the changes that you need to make.
Change begins with setting realistic and achievable goals. Small differences to a day-to-day routine can make a very big difference to the way an individual feels and experiences life. Start today. You will be amazed the difference it makes.
We only get one life. Let’s make it one that makes us feel truly alive.