Life is hidden behind the new

I often hear people making cliché statements such as “life is short” or “this year has really buzzed by” when talking about their lives but I’ve noticed I rarely see anyone actually doing anything about that. We float through life thinking that ‘better’ is just on the other side of our horizon but what we don’t bother to notice is that we’re not actually moving closer to it. It’s like we all know we’re letting life pass us by but we’re collectively too busy to care. Does anyone else see a problem with this?

When I decided to commit to this month’s attempt of ‘experiencing something new’ every day my goal was only to try and experience life more. I didn’t know exactly what I was in for but I knew however it worked out, that I was going to be an adventure. What I didn’t expect was to fall in love with so many new and exciting things that had been hiding right in my own backyard.

It was such an energizing experience to try something for the first time once again and funny enough, the more I got into each activity the more I noticed myself shaking out of my day to day mindset and how quickly I found myself able to simply relax and enjoy the experience. There was no more stress, no more deadlines and no responsibilities; I was just present and able to really enjoy the moment.

I was discovering new rewarding passions that I didn’t even know existed and all I had done was get out of my own way and put myself out there. I think that’s the biggest reason why we often find ourselves in these life ruts, we get trapped in our own heads and we feel like there’s nothing good out there for us to do and pretty soon days, weeks, months have gone by and we haven’t even noticed.

But if you can just break free from that mindset, I can tell you from experience now, that not only is there a whole world of adventure and life out there, there’s also an amazing community of people to connect with.

Rock Climbing, Sailing, Dragon Boat racing, and CrossFit were not only all incredible experiences that I could see myself doing again but they all had these wonderfully supportive and welcoming networks of people that made the experiences so much more meaningful. Not only was I exploring, learning and growing through these new adventures but I was building a whole new social network of likeminded people who wanted to do the same.

As I continued on my positive journey of adventure and community I couldn’t help think about the larger effect this was having on my life. After all, wasn’t this what life was all about? Experiencing new things, challenging yourself, finding new passions and meeting fun and amazing new people. That was the life I wanted to lead. Why then did I spend so much time doing nothing…

Stop watching Grey’s Anatomy and start living your life!

When you’re old and you’ve reached a point where you’ve got more days behind you than in front of you, what do you think your life will have been like? What will stick out as the best times of your life? What do you imagine will have been the most fulfilling and meaningful parts?

Do you ever wonder why you never hear an elderly person complaining about not finishing an old TV series or getting enough work done at the office? It’s because those weren’t the things that made their lives worth living.

Most seniors I know regret not having experienced life to the fullest. They wish they had gone on that trip, jumped off that cliff or kissed that girl or guy. It’s these adventures that make life worth living but if you let these moments pass you by than before you know it you could wake up and realize life is over and you’ve missed it.

There’s a theory about this I quite enjoy. It says that our routines are the enemy of time and once your brain figures out the patterns of life it down shifts into autopilot. Much like if you’ve ever driven somewhere and realized upon arrival that you didn’t recall any of the trip. Your mind had experienced that pattern so many times that your conciseness blinked and you were there. The same principle applies with life. You need to grow, learn and challenge yourself to experience new things otherwise you can blink and you will have arrived at the end of life wondering why you got there so quickly. When you’re young everything is new and engaging so life moves slowly but when you become an adult it’s a choice you have to make. If you want to wake up your brain and be alert for life’s journey then you need to choose to make adventure a part of your life.

That doesn’t mean you need to quit your job tomorrow and move to Hawaii (although that would be pretty awesome) but it does mean that life needs to be more than the daily grind and time consuming vices we make it about now.

Stop procrastinating, say yes to life

The simple solution to an underwhelming life is to just find more ways to put yourself out there. I can guarantee there are countless activities happening right now that you could be taking advantage of but you just aren’t. You need to say yes to life and make living a priority. When opportunities come your way make sure you seize them because so often you won’t get another chance.

Life Is short, and if you don’t want it to pass you by then it’s up to you to build a life that is worth living. You only get one life so why not make it epic.