Wallow in your misery for a few minutes. Throw a full on pity party if you like. But train yourself to have five minutes being down and then get over it.
Take 10 minutes if it’s really tough. But then get on with living life. It won’t last forever, so the quicker you get back on the horse, the more time you’ll have for this fun, wild ride.
There’ll be bumps on the road. Unforeseen issues will arise. Deal with them and carry on.
There is no pause button in life. A picture may be the closest thing to a pause button. Although it captures a moment in time, it still doesn’t halt time.
Even when you stop and look at that stopped moment in time, actual time keeps ticking along.
How you spend your time is a fascinating thing. Take time to smell the roses but also keep cramming it all in before your final buzzer.
Life is precious. A bullet missing a major organ by millimetres can mean you’re alive. A few unfortunate words or good ones in the wrong order could see you in jail for several years.
Misrepresenting the real situation by changing a word, tense or emphasis, could mean certain death, jail or freedom.
Life is full of fine lines. Cross them at your peril. Push things too far and the Universe will snap back. The French Revolution, a ball thrown in the air, or playing with a dog and going one step too far, are all examples of limits being crossed and the (natural) consequences.
Understand where the line is and was, and then adjust quickly, before it’s too late.
Begin with the end in mind. In your final days, when you look back over your life, what will you be proud of? What will you savour and hold close?
Who will tidy your mess? There are many questions to answer including whether you left an inheritance, fond memories, or children.
Hopefully you will have been a net giver on this Earth. You will have a tidy and easy to understand book of your affairs for your Executor.
What fun plans will you have had, trips will you have taken, and opportunities will you have pursued.
Sit down at a computer, or with pen and paper, for one hour this weekend and write out your life from its finish, back to now. Write out the highlight real you want to watch in your later life.
Then on Monday, set to work to ensure you do all that you wrote. That’s how you create a dream life.
Your life is your perspective on the world. It doesn’t mean the world is like such and such. It simply means you chose to view the world as that.
If it was like that, then wouldn’t everyone see it that way too? People see it differently not because it is different but their perspective is.
Stay focused on the kind of life you want to live. Whether it’s selfish, giving, philanthropic, classy, stoic or even solitary, just do the thing that will make you happy and your family and friends proud to know you.
If someone wrote your biography and turned it into a movie, would people watch with interest? Would it lift people up and inspire them to greatness? Or would it be a warning to others to avoid this route at all costs?
Now that you’re thinking about it, you could actually do something about it. If it looks like a positive role model story, well done, keep going! However, if it has flashing red lights and warning labels all over it, perhaps rethink the plan for the next five years and start turning things around.
Look for, enjoy and appreciate life’s magic. It is everywhere. In how you move your hand, with precision, to pick up a cashew and place it in your mouth. Think how amazing that truly is.
Or that your heart beats in perfect time, even when you are asleep. And you don’t have to even think about it!
How a cut heals is also quite incredible when you observe it closely over several days.
Recognise all of life’s magic, gaze in wonder and be grateful you’re involved.
It can be simple. Just you and nature. Au naturel. Or you can add swimsuits, SeaDoos, picnics, noodles, diving board, slide, and a boat. Just like in life, you can always add more. Yet, when is enough, enough? Appreciate the simple things and you’ll love what you have.
