Appreciating your "Now"~Don't Exist. Live.

Hey Everyone! I hope you all had a relaxing thanksgiving weekend and did not wound yourselves trying to get black friday deals. I had a great break from everything this past week! My family & I went to New Jersey to visit my big sis Oby and her hubby. It was awesome to have most of the family under one roof. Soo much food and soo much love under the same roof, I am forever indeed thankful for the people in my life.

That brings me to the topic of this post... Appreciating the "Now"; what it means to live . Living is more than surviving. It means wholly enjoying the opportunities in your life, the people who love you and the not-so-mere fact that you are alive. Often in life, we spend so much time emotionally absent from our bodies, that we loose sight of our Now. We are either chasing the future or analyzing what went wrong in the past, that the present is left void of our attention. We are all guilty of that, to an extent and we do it in a variety of aspects of our life; in our careers, our relationships, etc.

One problem with gazing too frequently into the past is that we may turn around to find the future has run out on us.  ~Michael Cibenko

No man is rich enough to buy back his past.  ~Oscar Wilde

Check your pulse, You're still breathing? Then, LIVE. Check your phone, people actually contact you? Then, LOVE. There's a famous saying that there's a big difference between living and existing. Its important that we don't spend our years simply existing, going through the motions. I realized late last year that I had spent so many years in school and it was making me mundane. So in an effort to "live" more, I dubbed 2011 "The Year of the Traveling Ral" and decided to visit four countries before the end of the year. I went to India (February), Italy (March), and Dubai (October), and the year is not over yet ;-). I plan to do a post in January about the trips. Anyhoo,  it worked- It really felt good to see the world, how other people live. It made me feel alive. Like I was seeing other pages in the book of World. Like I was Living...

We crucify ourselves between two thieves:  regret for yesterday and fear of tomorrow.  ~Fulton Oursler

Simply "existing" means something different for each person. For person A it may mean continuously analyzing what went wrong in your past relationship, that you remain blinded to the other opportunities that are your life NOW. For person B it may mean continuously planning for the future that you fail to enjoy what you have now. For person C it may mean simple procrastination. For person D it may mean pushing someone who loves you away in an effort to protect yourself from heartbreak. For person E it may mean staying stuck in a dead-end job because you are afraid of being disappointed.

Here are a few "Living" suggestions to get out of the "existing" rut

~ Love. Its a great feeling
~ Appreciate those who love you & tell them you do
~Be adventurous
~Leave the past where it belongs (behind you)
~Work towards the future but never sacrifice your happiness for the unseen
~Travel (if you buy tickets really early, you can get a $300 ticket to the bahamas ;-) )
~Take risks (reasonably)
~Dance (its freeing :-))
~Take road trips
~Find a passion & live it
~Sample food.- you may find something you really like (I just recently tasted almond-flavored pancakes- I'm in love- like, where has it been all my life? :-))

Sooo good :-)

~Make a bucket list & try to accomplish at least 2 per year
~Stay around people or things that make you laugh (its true- laughter heals the soul)
~Make a conscious decision to be happy
~Do something you've never done
~Step out of your element
~ Open your heart
~Take a "Me-Day"
~Volunteer- helping people brings blessings
~Rid yourself of negative people
~Savor each moment like its your last

Live, Love, and Appreciate!

Yesterday is history.  Tomorrow is a mystery.  And today?  Today is a gift.  That's why we call it the present.  ~Babatunde Olatunji

The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.  ~Abraham Lincoln

Stay Inspired...