LIFE

Live In Full Experience

I am a firm believer that we make our own happiness.  It is completely within our control on a daily basis how we choose to respond to life's experiences.  The moment we wake up in the morning when the first thoughts pop into our heads is our first opportunity to DECIDE how our day will go.  How often do you take a second to recognize how you feel at any particular moment?  Waking up in a warm bed after a decent nights rest should make you feel grateful.  Feeling the warm water relax your body in the shower should make you feel thankful, inspired, ready.  To fully live life in the moment and pursue your dreams and desires is quite a balancing act.  Choosing to revel in daily activities like washing dishes or folding laundry while making effort and time to reach beyond the daily routine and find passion and fulfillment in larger goals takes discipline.  I find taking some alone time to really examine what is important to you in life on a daily basis can bring clarity and focus.

Too often we feel dragged down by negative self talk.  We make excuses for our lack of energy, desire, time and effort.  Sometimes we let what other people think of us dictate our worth.  Our thought are filled with "I can't" or "I don't" when in reality almost everything is within our reach if we organize, work and motivate ourselves to get there.

ORGANIZE.  We all get the same 24 hours in a day.  How is it some people are able to achieve spectacular things while others only dream of it?   I believe 50% of success is based on organizing your time to achieve your goals.  I used to make excuses for not waking up early to get my workout in.  "I am not a morning person."  "I am just too tired the rest of the day if I do that."  Then one day I DECIDED to make it a priority to start my day with my favorite thing - exercise.  It took a good two weeks of going almost every day for me to adjust to a new schedule but now I crave it.  I get my clothes ready the night before in anticipation of the endorphins released the next morning.  Instead of thinking about that cup of coffee I think about music pumping in my headphones and my heart pounding.  I DECIDED to use more of my 24 hours to achieve my goals.  Getting up a couple of hours earlier allows me to not only feel spectacular the rest of the day but gives me that extra time to consider how I will proceed toward my goals and ambitions.  This is my alone time.

WORK.  Living a life of fulfillment and joy requires work and discipline.  Nobody wants to hear that.  We expect things to come easily to us.    If you think about a time when you were truly happy and fulfilled most likely it took work and discipline to get there.  Our very humanness dictates that fulfillment comes from effort.  Whether it be finding that perfect job, meeting the love of your life or being recognized for your charitable work most everything we feel really good about required work.  So why are we so afraid of working?  Going the extra mile, putting in the extra hour, challenging ourselves to reach farther and push harder are worth it.  It gives us strength and confidence to achieve even more.  Too often laziness is the only thing keeping us from our greatest desires.

MOTIVATE.  All living things require motivation.  Flowers reach for the sunshine.  Animals are motivated by food.  We have to find the things that truly motivate us.  If you offer a mouse a piece of lettuce or a piece of cheese the mouse is going to go for the cheese every time.  That mouse will probably work extremely hard to get that cheese but won't try hard at all for the lettuce.  If your goal is to lose weight and your motivation is to fit into clothes and you are not successful - then your motivation is not correct.  You can have the same goals but may need to change the motivation to be successful.  Maybe the new motivation is to feel better, or to run with your kids, or live longer.  Sometimes it is extremely challenging to find the things that really, truly motivate us but once we do find it success is attainable.

I don't want to get to the end of my life and say I missed it.  I want to look back and know that I did all I could to EXPERIENCE life.  Cherishing the smiles on my children's faces, feeling the sun shine on my forehead,  savoring a delicious meal.  I want to know that I did all I could to be the best human I could be.  The best Kristin I could be. Along with helping others through life I want to know that I worked hard to achieve and provide a better life for myself and those around me.  I want to know that I LIVED.