How to Enjoy Life

So, with all its challenges and stresses, how do we enjoy life?

After I did a quick survey I found that there seems to be few core elements that everyone wants or needs in order to not hate the lives they lead.

In a very broad way most of the essentials for a good life can be covered in mentioning the following few aspects:

🙂   Having a good support base of friends and/or family
🙂   Having a good job/income with enough money to stay afloat
🙂   Having a good quality of life, staying healthy and not getting sick often
🙂   Having a safe place to rest your head every night
🙂   Doing something that challenges us, and is not sucking our life out through monotony
🙂   Having fun and being happy

I believe we can break everything down into two, even broader, categories:
Physical deeds and Mental/Spiritual elements.

To me it’s all about balance and purpose.

Purpose? Well, a life that lacks meaning often lacks a sense of self-worth and joy. But I’ll go into more detail on that subject when I cover the mental/spiritual category.

Part of a balanced lifestyle is covered in the physical category. i.e how we spend the 24 hours in our day.

So this is the breakdown to enjoying a good life:

Combat Boredom

• Boredom is a huge downer in life; some people get bored a lot quicker and easier than others.

One of the keys is to pour yourself into something, and, importantly, with the right attitude. For e.g. if you’re going to try a new sport with a friend, don’t be thinking about your Nintendo while you’re playing the sport. You’ll be distracted, not enjoy it and only look forward to it ending. Focus and intentionally try your best to enjoy that new sporting experience.

Find a Hobby

• In terms of what you can do to Enjoy life. There are all sorts of fun and exciting activities and hobbies for you to spend your time productively:

One of our day walks through the forests and mountains
One of our day walks through the forests and mountains

Hiking, collecting something, sport, creating something, board/card games, gym, joining a club of some sort, maybe just getting together with friends for a dinner or coffee date, reading, going to movies or having a dvd and pizza night with buddies.

Get Creative

• Being creative and artistic is a huge mood lifter for many people, even if they don’t realise it.

I know for myself that creativity and producing are paramount to me enjoying my life. I love to be creative. And everyone has a different perception of creativity. I can’t really draw or play music or paint, but I find creativity in video editing, writing and building things. I hate the feeling that I’ve wasted a day.

Chillax

• Taking time to spend with friends and family. Sometimes we get so driven by a project or a goal we want to complete that we don’t think it’s important to socialize or relax.

Relaxing with some of my friends (on a mountain top)
Relaxing with some of my friends (on a mountain top)

When we spend a good time bonding with people close to us, it rejuvenates us and also puts everything back into perspective. It’s then that we realise we were designed for relationships. And laughter is the best medicine 🙂

Make Some Extra Money

• Earn extra money – check out Money and Business category for ideas on how to make some extra cash. There is also help on how to get more organized in your office and become more efficient.

Earning a little bit of extra dough is always a good feeling and it feels doubly-good when we do it on our own terms (i.e. with no boss) and by doing something we love.

Be Healthy

• People will try complicate this issue with expensive diets and complicated strategies.

Cycling with my wife in the Drakensburg
Cycling with my wife in the Drakensburg

It’s not rocket science! Just eat right and get regular exercise. And that doesn’t mean you have to suddenly start running marathons – people who exercise for even less than an hour a week reduce their risk of heart disease by 15%! (read more of those facts in this post about how exercise helps your heart)

Rest

• Get proper rest. Lazy people will use this as an excuse to loaf and waste away on the couch. But for the balanced lifestyle rest is of paramount importance.

I know from own experience there was a period in my life for over a year where I battled to sleep properly. This meant I wasn’t getting rest during the night and it made me feel lethargic and drained during the day. Rest is an important part of being active; even a 20 minute session on your back in the afternoon can recharge your batteries fully for the rest of the day and evening.

So there you go; don’t just drift through life wasting your years. Make an effort to enjoy your life and maximise each day.

How do YOU enjoy life? I’d love to hear. Let me know in the comment section below…

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