Enjoy Life to the Fullest: The Choice Is Yours to Make

Are you choosing to enjoy your life to the fullest?

Joy, fulfillment and happiness don’t just grow on trees.  You can quote me on that!  I firmly believe we must pursue these states with intention.

You can either let your life and thoughts drift to wherever they may land including places like negativity, bitterness, depression, fear, discouragement and helplessness or you can take a stand.

I’ve consciously chosen to enjoy my life.  Does this mean that I always get what I want?  No way!  I experience the same trials, obstacles and setbacks that you do.  However, after a brief period of moping, I shake it off, get up and move on to better ground.

When it rains, we can either let ourselves drowned or we can go out and splash in the puddles.  Which is it going to be?

Are you choosing to enjoy your life to the fullest or are you allowing yourself to remain stuck in a bad place?  Please make no mistake about it.  It is a choice.  One that we all have to make day-to-day and moment-by-moment.

The Ways I Willfully Choose to Enjoy Life to the Fullest

I won’t even pretend that you can simply follow what I suggest below like a recipe and expect it to work for you.  It might or it might not.  Enjoying life to the fullest is a very personal and individual thing.  We are all unique.  What makes me tick might not even strike a chord with you.  However, by sharing what I do, I hope it will open your eyes to the possibilities in your life.

Here’s how I willfully choose to enjoy life to the fullest:

1.  Practicing Active Gratitude

The quickest way I know to rejuvenate my joy is to start counting all the things I am grateful for in my life.  It is very easy to take things for granted.  Active gratitude is stopping for a few moments to mindfully and purposefully list mentally, verbally or on paper all the things we have to be thankful for.  For me, this always humbles me and restores a sense of perspective.  Here are a few of the things that regularly appear on my list:

• My Wife – I am fortunate to have someone so loyal, caring and practical in my life.  She keeps me grounded and provides reliable counsel.  I am lucky to have her to celebrate the good times with and to split my burdens with.  She is truly my best friend and partner.
• My Daughters – They are beautiful!  I treasure their smiles, energy and innocence.  They warm my heart and open my eyes to so much of life that I would otherwise miss.
• My Health – It only takes a minor sickness to remind me how precious my good health is to me.  I am very grateful that I don’t have to struggle against a physical disability or disease on a daily basis.
• My Job – I work with some great people and together form a fantastic organization.  I’m truly blessed to be able to make a nice living doing something I enjoy.
• My Possessions – I have every single thing a guy could ever need and then some.  I’m spoiled.  Most of us in America take our homes, our food and what we own for granted, but we shouldn’t.

Of course, the list above is not by any means all-inclusive, but just going through it right now I feel my spirits lifted.  Give active gratitude a try yourself and see what it does for you.

2.  Pursuing Accomplishment

I’m convinced that we all need a reason to get out of bed every morning.  I know I need something that forces me to continue to grow and expand as a human being.  The sense of accomplishment that comes from doing a job right is uplifting.  It doesn’t matter if it is weeding the flowerbed or designing a new software system, I enjoy life a lot more when I’m off my butt getting something done.

I get stuck in mental quagmires from time to time.  When I do, I often resist the idea of starting a new, challenging project.  However, it never fails, if I force myself to do so, I feel so much better once I’ve done it.  I stand back and admire my work drinking in the pride and happiness it produces.

3.  Seeking Adventure

One of the traps that I fall into is getting into ruts.  I’m very habitual and if I’m not careful I’ll find myself doing the same old things over and over even though my enjoyment of those things is waning.  The best way I’ve found to jolt myself out of running on autopilot is to pursue some sort of adventure.

An adventure, by definition, contains risks and unknowns.  These stimulate my mind and heart.  They awaken my soul and make me feel alive!  I feel like I become super aware of my surroundings.  This heightened state of being stirs my creativity and helps me to recognize all kinds of new possibilities.  A life without adventure isn’t really worth living!

Choose Right Now to Enjoy Life to the Fullest

Make your own choice to start enjoying your life to the fullest today!  Again, exactly how you do this is a very personal and individual thing.  You need ideas and inspiration.  Hopefully, I’ve given you some, but I also invite you to check out Mandi’s thoughts and views about this in her article titled 31 Days of Organizing for a Better 2010 – Enjoy Life to the Fullest.  You are likely to get a slightly different point of view that might clarify things even more for you.  Enjoy!

How do you choose to enjoy your life to the fullest?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

Photo by Todd Baker