I know I always post a quote, but I found this lurking in my computer and it simply needs to be here. I cannot remember where I first saw it, so I would like to appologise for not posting the source, but if anyone recognise it, please email me and I will publish it. There are 39 lessons + 1 personal advice - be yourself.
Enjoy:
Enjoy:
1. Love. Perhaps the most
important. Fall in love, if you aren't already. If you have, fall in love with
your partner all over again. Abandon caution and let your heart be broken. Or
love family members, friends, anyone -- it doesn't have to be romantic love.
Love all of humanity, one person at a time.
2. Get outside. Don't let yourself
be shut indoors. Go out when it's raining. Walk on the beach. Hike through the
woods. Swim in a freezing lake. Bask in the sun. Play sports, or walk barefoot
through grass. Pay close attention to nature.
3. Savor food. Don't just eat your
food, but really enjoy it. Feel the texture, the bursts of flavors. Savor every
bite. If you limit your intake of sweets, it will make the small treats you
give yourself (berries or dark chocolate are my favorites) even more enjoyable.
And when you do have them, really, really savor them. Slowly.
4. Create a morning
ritual. Wake early and greet the day. Watch the sun rise. Out loud, tell
yourself that you will not waste this day, which is a gift. You will be
compassionate to your fellow human beings, and live every moment to its
fullest. Stretch or meditate or exercise as part of your
ritual. Enjoy some coffee.
5. Take chances. We often live our
lives too cautiously, worried about what might go wrong. Be bold, risk it all.
Quit your job and go to business for yourself (plan
it out first!), or go up to that girl you've liked for a long time and ask her
out. What do you have to lose?
6. Follow excitement. Try to find the
things in life that excite you, and then go after them. Make life one exciting
adventure after another (with perhaps some quiet times in between).
7. Find your passion. Similar to the above
tip, this one asks you to find your calling. Make your living by doing the
thing you love to do. First, think about what you really love to do. There may
be many things. Find out how you can make a living doing it. It may be
difficult, but you only live once.
8. Get out of your
cubicle. Do you sit all day in front of computer, shuffling papers and taking
phone calls and chatting on the Internet? Don't waste your days like this.
Break free from the cubicle environment, and do your work on a laptop, in a coffee shop, or on a boat, or in
a log cabin. This may require a change of jobs, or becoming a freelancer. It's
worth it.
9. Turn off the TV. How many hours will
we waste away in front of the boob tube? How many hours do we have to live? Do
the math, then unplug the TV. Only plug it back in when you have a DVD of a
movie you love. Otherwise, keep it off and find other stuff to do. Don't know
what to do? Read further.
10. Pull away from
Internet. You're reading something on the Internet right now. And, with the
exception of this article, it is just more wasting away of your precious time.
You cannot get these minutes back. Unplug the Internet, then get out of your
office or house. Right now! And go and do something.
11. Travel. Sure, you want to
travel some day. When you have vacation time, or when you're older. Well, what
are you waiting for? Find a way to take a trip, if not this month, then
sometime soon. You may need to sell
your car or stop your cable bill and stop eating out to do it, but make it
happen. You are too young to not see the world. If need be, find a way to make a living by freelancing, then work
while you travel. Only work an hour or two a day. Don't check email but once a
week. Then use the rest of the time to see the world.
12. Rediscover what's
important. Take an hour and make a list of everything that's important to you. Add
to it everything that you want to do in life. Now cut that list down to 4-5
things. Just the most important things in your life. This is your core list.
This is what matters. Focus your life on these things. Make time for them.
13. Eliminate
everything else. What's going on in your life that's not on that short list? All that
stuff is wasting your time, pulling your attention from what's important. As
much as possible, simplify your life by eliminating the stuff that's not on
your short list, or minimizing it.
14. Exercise. Get off the couch
and go for a walk. Eventually try running. Or do some push ups and crunches. Or swim or bike or row. Or go for a
hike. Whatever you do, get active, and you'll love it. And life will be more
alive.
15. Be positive. Learn to recognize
the negative thoughts you have. These are the self-doubts, the criticisms of
others, the complaints, the reasons you can't do something. Then stop yourself
when you have these thoughts, and replace them with positive thoughts.
Solutions. You can do this!
16. Open your heart. Is your heart a
closed bundle of scar tissue? Learn to open it, have it ready to receive love,
to give love unconditionally. If you have a problem with this, talk to someone
about it. And practice makes perfect.
17. Kiss in the rain. Seize the moment and
be romantic. Raining outside? Grab your lover and give her a passionate kiss.
Driving home? Stop the car and pick some wildflowers. Send her a love note.
Dress sexy for him.
18. Face your fears. What are you most
afraid of? What is holding you back? Whatever it is, recognize it, and face it.
Do what you are most afraid of. Afraid of heights? Go to the tallest building,
and look down over the edge. Only by facing our fears can we be free of them.
19. When you suffer,
suffer. Life isn't all about fun and games. Suffering is an inevitable part of
life. We lose our jobs. We lose our lovers. We lose our pets. We get physically
injured or sick. A loved one becomes sick. A parent dies. Learn to feel the
pain intensely, and really grieve. This is a part of life -- really feel the
pain. And when you're done, move on, and find joy.
20. Slow down. Life moves along at
such a rapid pace these days. It's not healthy, and it's not conducive to
living. Practice doing everything slowly -- everything, from eating to walking
to driving to working to reading. Enjoy what you do. Learn to move at a snail's
pace.
21. Touch humanity. Get out of your house
and manicured neighborhoods, and find those who live in worse conditions. Meet
them, talk to them, understand them. Live among them. Be one of them. Give up
your materialistic lifestyle.
22. Volunteer. Help at homeless soup
kitchens. Learn compassion, and learn to help ease the suffering of others.
Help the sick, those with disabilities, those who are dying.
23. Play with children. Children, more than
anyone else, know how to live. They experience everything in the moment, fully.
When they get hurt, they really cry. When they play, they really have fun.
Learn from them, instead of thinking you know so much more than them. Play with
them, and learn to be joyful like them.
24. Talk to old people. There is no one
wiser, more experienced, more learned, than those who have lived through life.
They can tell you amazing stories. Give you advice on making a marriage last or staying out of debt. Tell you about
their regrets, so you can learn from them and avoid the same mistakes. They are
the wisdom of our society -- take advantage of their existence while they're
still around.
25. Learn new skills. Constantly improve
yourself instead of standing still -- not because you're so imperfect now, but
because it is gratifying and satisfying. You should accept yourself as you are,
and learn to love who you are, but still try to improve -- if only because the
process of improvement is life itself.
26. Find spirituality. For some, this means
finding God or Jesus or Allah or Buddha. For others, this means becoming in
tune with the spirits of our ancestors, or with nature. For still others, this
just means an inner energy. Whatever spirituality means for you, rediscover it,
and its power.
27. Take
mini-retirements. Don't leave the joy of retirement until you are too old to enjoy it. Do
it now, while you're young. It makes working that much more worth it. Find ways
to take a year off every few years. Save up, sell your home, your possessions,
and travel. Live simply, but live, without having to work. Enjoy life, then go
back to work and save up enough money to do it again in a couple of years.
28. Do nothing. Despite the tip
above that we should find excitement, there is value in doing nothing as well.
Not doing nothing as in reading, or taking a nap, or watching TV, or
meditating. Doing nothing as in sitting there, doing nothing. Just learning to
be still, in silence, to hear our inner voice, to be in tune with life. Do this
daily if possible.
29. Stop playing video
games. They might be fun, but they can take up way too much time. If you spend
a lot of time playing online games, or computer solitaire, or Wii or Gameboy or
whatever, consider going a week without it. Then find something else to do,
outside.
30. Watch sunsets,
daily. One of the most beautiful times of day. Make it a daily ritual to find
a good spot to watch the sunset, perhaps having a light dinner while you do so.
31. Stop reading
magazines. They're basically crap. And they waste your time and money. Cancel your
subscriptions and walk past them at the news stands. If you have to read
something, read a trashy novel or even better, read Dumb Little Man once a day
and be done.
32. Break out from ruts. Do you do things the
same way every day? Change it up. Try something new. Take a different route to
work. Start your day out differently. Approach work from a new angle. Look at
things from new perspectives.
33. Stop watching the
news. It's depressing and useless. If you're a news junky, this may be
difficult. I haven't watch TV news or read a newspaper regularly in about two
years. It hasn't hurt me a bit. Anything important, my mom tells me about.
34. Laugh till you cry. Laughing is one of
the best ways to live. Tell jokes and laugh your head off. Watch an awesome
comedy. Learn to laugh at anything. Roll on the ground laughing. You'll love
it.
35. Lose control. Not only control over
yourself, but control over others. It's a bad habit to try to control others --
it will only lead to stress and unhappiness for yourself and those you try to
control. Let others live, and live for yourself. And lose control of yourself
now and then too.
36. Cry. Men, especially,
tend to hold in our tears, but crying is an amazing release. Cry at sad movies.
Cry at a funeral. Cry when you are hurt, or when somebody you love is hurt. It
releases these emotions and allows us to cleanse ourselves.
37. Make an awesome
dessert. I like to make warm, soft chocolate cake. But even berries dipped in
chocolate, or crepes with ice cream and fruit, or fresh apple pie, or homemade
chocolate chip cookies or brownies, are great. This isn't an every day thing,
but an occasional treat thing. But it's wonderful.
38. Try something new,
every week. Ask yourself: "What new thing shall I try this week?" Then be
sure to do it. You don't have to learn a new language in one week, but seek new
experiences. Give it a try. You might decide you want to keep it in your life.
39. Be in the moment. Instead of thinking
about things you need to do, or things that have happened to you, or worrying
or planning or regretting, think about what you are doing, right now. What is
around you? What smells and sounds and sights and feelings are you
experiencing? Learn to do this as much as possible through meditation, but also
through bringing your focus back to the present as much as you can in
everything you do.
40. Be yourself. Stop worrying about
what other might think of you and stop acting like everyone is watching you.
Act like the world is yours but be considerate of others.