Today is the last day of my 8 day ‘stay-cation’. It’s been one of the best times in a long time and I’ve learned much I’ll need for the journey ahead. I’m planning to take what I learned and apply it to my everyday life. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed, unsure, or just tired, here’s my insights —
Lessons for Living An Amazing Life
(all field-tested during my ‘stay-cation’)
- Get enough rest. Sleep or just lying around. I think we push ourselves too much, and never give ourselves a break i.e. I’m telling you to go take a nap now 🙂
- Do yoga. I made time every day and feel so mobile and blissed out by the end of my 8 days.
- Exercise more. It’s not contrary to rule #1 — they are Yin to the other’s Yang. I’ve been dancing and walking and cycling and feel better than I have in months.
- Clean your house. Strangely, making your home nicer and getting rid of old stuff really does make everything feel lighter and more free. You’ll be amazed.
- Say no to more events with people. I was trying to only leave the house twice this week. I didn’t quite hit that goal but it made me realise I should say no more often.
- Don’t zone out of your own life. When tired, TV, movies, games, and the internet can seem like mindless fun. But everything in moderation — I stayed away from ‘wasting time’ this week and I had a LOT of time to do other things. And get out in nature and away from the electronics.
- Love yourself more. If you get in an unhappy place, it easy to blame yourself. And while it’s important to know you have the power to change every situation in some way, also give yourself credit for how awesome every part of you is already. There has never been and will never be anyone like you.
- Stop worrying what people think. For a ‘people pleaser’ like me, I realised that just being away from stressful situations made me so happy. Now, I can’t change all the situations but now that I know, I can try not to let them affect me as much.
- Stop eating fast food. This should be #1 really. Just being away from town, at home with good food, made an amazing difference. And without the stress, I didn’t really want sugar that much. So I am medicating myself in stressful situations with sweets — that’s got to change.
- Play and create as often as possible. Letting the silly, child-like side back out and just plain old having fun cannot be overrated. There’s a saying —
But really, it’s not the growing up that does you in, it’s forgetting what you were growing toward. This life is yours, not your spouse’s, not your boss’s — yours. Remember who are really are and act accordingly. And if you ever forget, go get lost for a few days. You may (re)discover more than you ever knew you possessed.
Stay Extraordinary 