How to change your life
Some time ago now I came to realize that how we define particular words – success, happiness, love, etc – can have a major impact on the way in which we live our life. One term that I hear thrown around often is “good life”, eg “he lived a good life” . But what is a good life exactly? This term will mean different things to different people, and yet I believe there are some ingredients that all “good lives” share. Here are a some of these ingredients:
Being present in the moment
You may have noticed I have been writing less as of late. Perhaps the best way to explain this is by reference to that well known advice your mother may have given you: “if you don’t have anything good or positive to say, don’t say anything.”
The past month I have felt uninspired to write – there is no other way to say it really. In examining why this is the case, I can identify 3 factors that have led to me falling into a rut: (1) post holiday blues (2) a growing frustration with my work situation; and (3) after being here in Canada for 10 months, homesickness finally rearing its ugly head.
So then, you may be wondering why I am writing this article. It has hardly been inspiring and positive so far….
In life, we’re often told to “go with the flow.” Meaning, the flow of energy, the flow of events as they unfold. The implication here is that we shouldn’t struggle against forces beyond our control. To do so is to expend valuable energy that’s better exerted elsewhere.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about this going with the flow business, and what it all means.
It’s my feeling that people who are passive accepters will always go with the flow, no matter what. And that’s the majority of people. But then you have the other brand of personality – the movers and shakers. They’re fewer and farther between, sure. These people seem to have that killer gut instinct telling them when it’s right to go against the flow.
Pain at the pump. That’s how many are referring to the record gas prices we are currently experiencing. I got my own taste of this “pain” just last night as I stood at the pump and filled our car with gas. I watched the numbers tick over and over and over until it reached an amount I hadn’t seen before when pumping gas and my mind drifted to the number of hours I would need to work to pay for this full tank.
According to this article by the Chicago Tribune, these prices aren’t going to drop anytime soon. “It’s not going to be a one-year blip and go away like the Internet bubble,” one commentator is quoted as saying. In fact, with the emergence of China and India as economic powers there have been predictions that gas could hit $7 a gallon in the US (currently I believe it is about $4). Now that would be painful.
To be honest, though, I am happy to see high gas prices. Why? Because it is the only way I see a widespread change in attitude to cars and driving coming about.
It’s back! After a 3 month hiatus I’m happy to present the 16th edition of my blog carnival. The carnival has a new name, but it still revolves around the word that means so much to me: change. The following are my 10 favorite submissions that I received for this edition.
Navigating Your MidLife Crisis by Lori Jewett
To many of us mid-life sounds like a dirty word – well, a dirty hyphenated word to be accurate. You can’t even think “mid-life” without the word crisis following it, can you? It’s kind of automatic that these words flow together in our brains. But think of a mid-life crisis and what picture comes to mind? A speeding red convertible…one hand on the wheel, the other holding down the comb-over…salacious wink at the red light?
Did you ever enter a room, see people talking and laughing together and wonder: how are they so at ease? Does it feel like a big deal to just “jump into a conversation” or assert your opinion? Do you have trouble relaxing and just being yourself in the company of others?
Many of us carry around the notion that other people are more emotionally and intellectually solid than we are. Is this true? Is it some kind of glitch in the human brain which makes us regard others as being better or superior?
If we press the pause button and really stop, what happens? We realize that our comfort level has much more to do with ourselves than anybody else. Here are some ways to become more effective, simply by feeling more at peace with who (and how) we are.
In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey gives some brilliant insights into living a truly effective life. The key is, before anything else, you must have a good foundation. This foundation is a ‘private victory,’ a self-mastery which comes before the success we aspire to achieve in our interdependent social environments – our work, our business, our family. This foundation is twofold, consisting of ‘habits’ which constitute the cornerstone of our lives. Without practicing these habits we build our life on quicksand, on the shifting, uncertain tides of a complex and ever changing world.
When we have mastered ourselves, when we have this foundation, we need not fear change. Indeed, we can embrace it and use it creatively, integrating new learning and insight into our lives, building greater synergy and reaching higher peaks of personal and social achievement.
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