Surviving or Thriving?

I know there are people out there living their best lives. I picture them traveling the world, meeting and connecting with like-minded people, staying up late talking and genuinely making the most of every minute of the day as if it was their last. Now, can you honestly say that’s the way you’re living life? Does it come anywhere close? I’m going to take a guess and say no.

We have snippets of full-blown life experiences, intense moments and conversations, times when we truly throw back our heads and laugh and find ourselves totally enjoying the moment. The rest of the time our days are filled with doing everything that has to be done. I’m talking work, laundry, cooking and driving the kids around. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy these things as well, but it does seem a far leap from the idea of ‘living our best life.’

When I speak to friends and ask how they are, they’ll often list off a whole lot of things they managed to get done, then go on to tell me how tired they are. The light at the end of the tunnel? A holiday they have planned, something to look forward to in the future. But is that really enough?

I’m not naive enough to suggest that life should always be a barrel of laughs, but how can we get back more of that living and focus less on the doing? I’ve recently met a few people that have returned to their life’s passion again as adults. The first one that springs to mind is a friend who does singing classes once a week and then performs a handful of times a year on stage. When I asked her about it she said it was nice to have something that she loved and did for herself. Maybe that’s the solution.

So what brings you happiness? What can you introduce (or reintroduce) into your life to add that bit of flare and excitement, something for yourself?