Are you searching for something or are you enjoying life?
We are a lot of the time in search of something….something more. Either money, career, fame or good reputation, good relationships, a house, a partner, kids, exotic holidays, etc. And we try hard, compromise a lot of things and, if we are “lucky”, we finally obtain what we want. The happiness of achieving the respective goal is a high we all want.
But did you ever notice how long this period lasts? Most of the time this feeling of being accomplished or happy lasts so little (until we want the next best thing,) that we don’t even really enjoy it! At least not as we should. We spend months, years or decades chasing a goal and feeling anguish over it, just for one small moment (minutes, days or maybe weeks) of “I did it!” or “I have it”.
And so we start again the circle, and again pushing ourselves, our limits, compromising, feeling anxious, planning, fearing what might happen or what might not happen, and we rush and rush. A never-ending spiral.
Most of the time our desires are so powerful that we definitely don’t enjoy the ride. Furthermore, they can also turn into some sort of obsession. Most of us lead their entire lives with this frustration. We forget to enjoy life, daily life, small moments like eating a good fruit, seeing beauty in the tree in front of our balcony, inhaling fresh air, admiring the sky, paying attention to our loved ones true emotions, etc. Basically, life lives us instead of us living life.
When we are in search for something, whether it is peace or love or anything else, by default we are not living that something. Stop searching and start living 🙂
Live life fully and passionately
Carpe Diem?
I hear a lot of people using ‘Carpe Diem‘ as a pretext, sometimes not to plan, not think about the future. This is another extreme. “Carpe diem” means to live the present moment, to live in the now, enjoying life, and not obsessing over goals all the time. That doesn’t mean not to have goals or not to plan. Of course, you will have moments of setting objectives and planning, but don’t forget to enjoy the ride!
How do you know if you are living your life or if you are letting life live you?
The difference is that, with the latter, you can feel disempowered, maybe even a victim, sad, angry or you just feel you are not content.
You have the power to change your life
With the former, you are a creator, you have a say on what is happening, you feel empowered, you have energy and you feel the joy of life.
No matter where you are in life or what you feel, do not forget you have the power to change your life.
How does change happen?
- Be present and notice what is happening.
Take responsibility for whatever it is that takes you out of the present moment (e.g. a fight you had, worries for the future, etc). In this way you can take back the power. And be kind to yourself, taking responsibility does not mean to put yourself down for what you did. Acknowledge it and choose to let it go.
Everything in life is a choice. We always have the choice, even if sometimes it feels so hard we think we have no choice. Saying we do not have a choice is one of the greatest lies we tell ourselves.
- Switch your attention and define your goal
What do you want to experience NOW? We need to understand where we are going and be able to recognize when we are there. What would you like to feel? What thoughts would you like to have? Are you willing to let go of anything else?
- Take one small step every day towards that goal.
That is to say, practice your choice of letting go of whatever takes you away from the present moment. And enjoy the process you are in, even if it feels challenging. Do not forget to enjoy the process of life, with everything that it has to offer. Do not try to get rid of the bad things and keep only the good things. Embrace all life offers. There are great opportunities that await even in the hardest challenges.
Enjoy (re-)creating yourself!
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