Unbox Your Gifts And Start Living Now
My colleague and close friend JP, of more than 12 years, decided to end the hustle and journey into her retirement.
JP is everyone’s baker, chef, gardener, seamstress, caregiver, and an awesome storyteller. She is everything to everyone. Although my office mates and I were saddened by her decision, we were elated that she was bold to travel into another chapter of her life.
I spoke to JP recently and she has transitioned well. So well, that her flower garden is blooming, and her gifts to design and create quilts and tapestries were unboxed.
JP shared that she was finally able to finish a quilt she started when her son was two years old. Her son is now twenty-five.
I was astonished!!
Twenty-two years is a very long time to box a gift. Her gift.
I reflected on my own life immediately. I, and many others, am no different from JP. Planned or unplanned, our careers and businesses take precedence. We become so busy, so engulfed, that life outside of our 8 to 4 is seen as a luxury when it should be seen as a NECESSITY!!!!!!
JP was blessed. She got to retire and was able to finish her tapestry. We may not be that fortunate. Life is uncertain. Do not wait for retirement to start ‘doing’.
Unbox your gifts and start living. Start living the life you deserve.
“Live the life you deserve now, do not wait until retirement”
How To Be Happy Now
Happiness is unique to an individual. The art of fulfillment for one is not necessarily the same for another. This is the main reason why each of us should not depend on others to bring us joy.
Happiness is dependent on an emotional state of total satisfaction. Someone could be in dire need of basic living essentials, yet still, experience the feeling of total bliss.
How come?
Probably it’s contentment.
Probably it’s gratitude.
Probably it’s perspective.
For certain money, luxuries, or status do not guarantee happiness.
Evaluate your life closely, the things that lead you to true happiness are the intangibles that are born from experiences.
Whether it is the time spent with loved ones, accomplishments, laughter, or being kind to others. True happiness lasts a lifetime, even when the scene has ended the memories live forever.
“Money, luxury, and status can be valued and exchanged but happiness is invaluable and cannot be swapped or replaced”
The Seven Master Keys To Experiencing Happiness
- Be clear on what happiness means to you – ask yourself what is most meaningful to you. What impact would it have on your life if it was taken away? When you are sure about what makes you happy, the time span of distress, shortcomings, and insecurities within your life is shortened.
- Do not rely on others to make you happy – each of us is an individual with different aspirations and passions. It is our responsibility to create a life that will allow us to achieve our heart’s desire. Regardless of our circumstances, there is always a different choice. It is up to you to choose.
- Focus on what you have and what you can control – within every situation, there is a bright side, it all depends on the angle from which you choose to look at it from. Instead of focusing on what you are missing or what you cannot control, give full attention to what you do have, and what you can positively impact and influence. Being appreciative of your blessings is a guaranteed happy booster.
- Do not compare yourself to others – your only competition should be you. Your journey is unique, no one is living the same journey as you. Being better than your yesterday is your best bet for serendipity. For those moments when you slip up, acknowledge, learn but always move on. Judging yourself and living in the past contributes to unhappiness.
- Love on yourself – like not relying on others to make you happy, you must love on yourself. It is important that you spend time with yourself enjoying who you are as a person. Smile and hug yourself frequently. Loving on yourself will lead you to your potential.
- Openly communicate with others what happiness means to you – you are in control of the outcome of your life. Communication is the key to any lasting relationship and managing expectations is equally crucial. Sharing what makes you happy, what you stand for, and what is outside your boundaries will remove the guesswork from others and although you cannot guarantee their actions it is certainly better than leaving it up to their terms of treatment.
- Make others feel happy – acts of kindness, love, and compassion to others create a feeling of overwhelming bliss within ourselves. When our time is spent selflessly making others feel better the feeling is automatically recuperated and we ourselves are better as a result. Happiness is contagious, we all should aim to make it a pandemic.
“Happiness is contagious. Share it freely”
People usually ask what they can do to feel happier. There is no one-sized fit all response to that question but having a defined clarity of purpose for your life is a great starting point. Knowing what you want for your future self will not only create direction, but it will motivate you to thrive, releasing doses of dopamine (the happy drugs) along the way.
Why wait?
How long we live is not known, what is known is that with each opportunity to breathe, we have a chance to make it worthwhile.
There is no value in deferring living life full out, in waiting for things to get better, you lose something else.
Consider life like playing a game of cards and all is at stake. You do not fold on the onset; you play the best game with the cards that you were dealt making moves based on the scenario at hand.
Ten Daily Habits You Can Adopt To Feel Happier
- Know what makes you happy; do what makes you happy.
- Spend time with the people you love.
- Do not allow negativity in your space.
- Exercise your mind and body.
- Consume a nutritious diet.
- Laugh heartily.
- Live with no regrets.
- Spend on memories.
- Live within your means.
- Live freely and leave a legacy.
“Dream big, live a full life, die empty”
he aim of life is to live full and die empty – Les Brown.We are here on this earth to play big and full…. so much so that the cemetery should be disappointed when you get there.
Don’t die with dreams that were not explored.
As Les will say, life has no duplication, and it is not fair, you will fall but take it one step at a time.
