There’re 1000 ways to die, thanks to Sony max TV for the most gruesome show ever, but there’re also 1000 ways to live, you just have to drop the remote for a few minutes, take your mind off the unfortunate fellas on the screen and discover life. Living versus existing will always be a battle, but battles are meant to be won so …
- Discover who you are and be yourself: I have had the privilege of having hundreds and hundreds of people pass through my life in the past years, and I can tell you this, no two people are the same. I have met the quiet, gloomy, loud, and sparky and even the confused character, and each one in their own way is beautiful. You master the art of living only when you embrace who you are, warts and all, and learn to love and respect yourself, no matter how different you are from others.
- Discover what you like and do it: Life is too short to spend it; in a job you hate, among company you despise, eating food you can’t stomach, and living in a haunted house. Make a list of all the things you like and the things you’d love to do; places to visit, foods to eat, activities to experience, people to meet… See every day you wake up as an opportunity to cross something off the list. Make your list very extensive, and don’t think about how to achieve it yet, just write them down, you have your whole life to achieve them, one day at a time. Desserts are always the best part of the food, life’s the same.
- Discover what works for you and keep repeating it: I spend the first three hours of my morning doing certain routine exercises; praying, aerobics/weights and reading/listening to some inspirational message. Any period I am able to maintain this routine for a few months at a time, I experience such awesome upbeat attitude and resilience, but whenever I backslide from it, it becomes easy for me to get into depression and lethargy. Look out for those things that give you a sustainable boost in your day, when you discover them, repeat them every day. Whatever it is; music, sports, yoga, karate, hanging out, reading… Just remember, it must be positive, and sustainable if it will help you in the long run. Negative bad habits that provide temporal highs exert such a drain on your emotions that when you crash, you are twice worse than before you started.
- Diversify: It does not matter how good or sweet a cup of ice cream is, eat the same flavour for breakfast lunch and dinner for a day or two, and you’ll throw up at the sight of it. Flavours are for a reason, change stuff in your life as often as you can. Discovery is the most amazing experience of the Homo sapien. When you discover new things or new ways of doing old things, life is refreshed. They tell you to accept change, I tell you to seek change. Look for a new way to do the most mundane of activities every once in a while, try out new stuff; eat a meal you can’t pronounce the name, drink coffee with salt instead of sugar, stop over at the club you pass every day from work but have never entered, take a different route to work, dress differently… the list is endless, but just keep life so unpredictable that your brain can’t wait to see the next thing you’ll come up with.
- Die every day: This is the most important pointer I have for you. Ask yourself how you would perform an activity, if it was the last time you were ever going to do it? I recently told myself that anytime I go out to speak, I will speak as if I won’t get the opportunity to speak again. Every day you enter your workplace, serve like it’s your last, in school, learn like you won’t get the opportunity again, and if you are playing, make sure you don’t stop till you can’t move again. If today was your last opportunity to do … how would you do it?
Our list might be endless, but the effect is the same, you may not have the life you love, but with a tweak here and there, you can get to love the life you have. Don’t lose another day to regret, rather win it to fun and contentment. Have a blast Y’all.
