Nothing hides your happiness from you more than living like you have tomorrow. We spend so much time on trivial things that we often forget that we only have one life to live, this is it, what happens after this is anyone’s guess.
I don’t know where you are in your life, are you just starting out? Are you halfway through? Are you retired? While it often hits us that we are the age that we are, we still seem to think every day that we have another day waiting for us tomorrow morning. We put off that dream vacation, that ideal job or meeting that perfect stranger for another day, making excuses along the way. Unfortunately, while you are busy putting off your dreams, the clock of your life is ticking down, at some point you are going to run out of time, yet still have a tank filled with unfulfilled dreams.
You only live one, do the best with it. Live every day the best way you can, don’t settle for anything other than the best. Never sacrifice your happiness for others and give it everything you got to be happy. Find joy in every minute and every action you make. If what you are doing doesn’t fill you up with joy, then leave it behind. You don’t have time for things that deplete your joy.
For the longest time, I believed that the pain from my past was just meant to be there. I settled for a life of lost joy to protect the peace, protect my family and protect my abuser. While I managed to convince myself that I was happy instead of just being happy, I traded years of my life to make him happy. I did that for nearly 20 years, 20 of my peak years that I will never get back. It wasn’t until I realized that this was not the life that I wanted to live, this was not the life that I wanted my son to live, I had to make a move, and for another five years of my life, I spent it fixing the previous 20. Of the 40 years of my life, 25 of them were spent without happiness.
Hopefully, if I am lucky, I will get the next 25 years to live a life -even if it is condensed.
You have one life to live; this is not a game, you can not 1 UP your life count. When your number is called, and you are lucky enough to sit back and reflect on your life, please ensure that what you are doing now is recalled on that day as a joy and not a drag.
You only have one life, live it wisely and love every minute of it. I hope you have the time of your life.
X-XC
This blog post is part of a series of 26 that focuses on finding your inner happiness. Please check out the rest of the series here: The ABC’s of a Happy Life