12 Reasons To Live

I was talking to a young man in his early 20s who has a chronic low mood. This was not my first time interacting with him and just like in the previous encounters, he projected the Eeyore (Winnie the Pooh) personality. He wants life to be easy. He wants life to be comfortable without having to do much on his part.

So, I had the conversation with him about the difference between being alive and living.

Eeyore – Winnie the Pooh

In being alive, you get up each day and do what is required to be done in order to survive. You have to go to work, you have to interact with others, you have to be outside to grocery shop etc. You are going through the daily motions. When you don’t have to do anything, you choose to do nothing but exist.

Tigger – Winnie the Pooh

In living, sure, you have to do the things that are required but outside of that, you seek and find things/people/activities that bring pleasure/relief/change. You interact with others (friends/family/lovers/strangers) because you genuinely like their company, you enjoy the simplest things that provide pleasure and you look forward to something/someone that can bring some relief or a smile on your face.

I could not help but wonder how many people wake up each day being alive vs living a life

12 Simple Doable Reasons To Feel Like You Are Living

1. Get up early one morning and take in the beauty of the orange sunrise. (I will let you borrow one of mine for inspiration. The picture was taken from my bedroom window)

Photo by Harleyq2 – Sunrise

2. Get out of your comfort zone and check off something on your bucket list. You keep delaying and waiting but the years pass and nothing – when do you stop delaying and start doing?

3. Most of your problems are temporary but you choose to think about them as permanent. They are not! Implement practical goals to solve the issue and put a completion date.

4. Take a day trip to a place you have never been

5. Cut the negative/toxic people and things out of your life. A rotting fruit placed among good ones always infects the good fruits

6. Change your routine at least one day out of the week and do something different: Take the scenic route, go for a walk, picnic in your living room

7. Find something to laugh or smile about. Just the act of being joyful can affect your mood

8. Reassess your life. You are stuck in your life because you are too afraid to see any other possibilities

9. Stop being lazy! Excuses, Excuses, Excuses. They are a dime a dozen. Get up off your derriere and make things happen. You keep waiting for someone else to do the magic for you. Good luck with that! You are responsible for your life and happiness

10. Be there for someone else – Being a good friend, lover, family member or neighbour takes your mind off your issues

11. Be kind to yourself because you do not deserve the vitriol, criticism, self-deprecation, hatred, over-critical, nasty, ugly messages you hurl at yourself each day (and stop taking that garbage from others too).

12. Be thankful for the positive things or people. Be thankful for the 1-2 things that are going right. If you have nothing to be thankful for then go searching.

You are blessed with one earthly life, so make good use of it by creating your reasons to live