When was the last time you skydived?
Or swam with dolphins or whales?
When was the last time you drove a sports car on a race track at 120mph?
Or climbed to the top of a mountain just to listen to the beauty?
When was the last time you had a Life-Affirming Experience?
An experience for that moment in time, all your troubled thoughts, worries, unhappiness are put aside and disappear while all your five senses are heightened to take in and fully appreciate a special moment, activity, attitude.
An experience that gives intense joy when you think about it now - a year from now, 5 years from now, 20 years from now.
An experience that emphasizes the positive aspects of life.
Besides, who would want to travel through life and not live?
Too often, we are just operating on autopilot, just going through the day-to-day routine. We do the daily dance - wake up, go to work, come home, go to sleep. Wake up, go to work, come home, go to sleep. Wake up, go to work, come home, go to sleep.
What do we do when the weekend comes? Wake up, clean the house, run the errands, come home, go to sleep.
Before you know it, a year has passed, then 5 years, then 20 years. Did you do anything exciting? You went to work and cleaned house but did you live life? Will you regret denying yourself pursuing an interest, a hobby, a passion? Our purpose is to live, not just exists.
How could you be happy with living just a daily routine when you have values, passions, hobbies, B HAG's - Big Harry Audacious Goals - that are within you waiting to be fulfilled.
Everyone has values that need to be honored. Everyone has goals to be fulfilled. Everyone has a passion that they want to pursue. Without attaining these, life can be un-motivating, un-involved, and un-inspiring.
With that in mind, how do you go from just existing to having a Life Affirming Experience?
- First off, decide now that you will give yourself permission to take a moment to enjoy life, try something new, and to break away from your routine.
- Feel the fear - and do it anyway. Acknowledge those fears, but also know that trying something new is also exciting.
- Then ask yourself:
- What do I always dream about doing?
- What do I value, that I have not been honoring lately?
- What am I passionate about but denying myself to have?
- What fun/exciting/romantic/spiritual activity have i always wanted to do but...(insert excuse here).
- Step Four - Go For IT!!!
- And while experiencing it, be present in the here and now - no thinking about the past, no worrying about the future. It is all about the here and now. Don't think about your laundry, your spouse, your children if you have them. This is about you.
The sound of these very expensive machines cannot be described and can only be experienced live. I still get a swelling of excitement when I recall hitting 120mph and then slowing down for a 10mph turn, downshifting through the paddle shifters and hearing the engine vroom - vrooom. It was an experience that spoke to my passion for cars, about driving with skill, the appreciation of precisely crafted machines for the purpose of spirited driving.
In the final analysis, will you settle for just doing the daily dance or will you pursue a Big Harry Audacious Goal? Will you remember all those weekends of having a clean house or will you remember the day of fulfilling a dream, living a moment and making a lasting memory?
Mark Twain said it best, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
So, throw off your bow-lines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover."
