How To Make Changes To Have A Meaningful Life
As the number of totally vaccinated adults continues to grow, we are entering a phase where we can begin to feel hopeful about life returning to normal. Soon, we can enjoy vacations to far off lands, visit with loved ones and hang out with strangers sans masks. All of these things are happy things for sure but before we get lost in the fervor of returning to normal life, we should ask ourselves, “What do I want my normal to be?” This was a question we had mentioned during the lockdown, what do we want to keep, what do we want to let slip away but now we are here where this is more than just a thought exercise.
Have you ever had a total hard reset in your life? Like a sudden move or breakup that took most of your social circle with it, or just an epiphany of realization of what you want? If you ever have, you know just how sudden and yet easy it felt to completely rework your life in ways that may have been shocking to those around you. Perhaps this change even made you change your social circles or get rid of friends or habits that no longer served you. Very rarely are we given these moments, and though at the time they can feel like a curse, they are a blessing. A complete rebirth and awakening to a new chapter of our lives. Over this past year we were all given this curse/blessing and now that is ending we can take stock and see what to do with it. How do we use this pandemic to create a happier and more meaningful life?
Perhaps you are already there, I know for myself personally I made sudden and quite drastic changes to my life in this period and am still adjusting to the new life I created for myself, but if you haven't seen a big change it is time to look closer. To do this we are going to do a couple writing and thought exercises. The first writing exercise is going to be to write down your average week right now. When do you wake up, how often do you work, what do you eat and how often do you exercise, all of that. Write down the mundane details of your day. Then write down all the things you love right now. Your favorite food, drink, past time, TV show, all the things that are bringing you joy right now. Now do the same thing for your life before the pandemic. Use your calendar if you need to but answer all the same questions. Now compare these two lists and see how they are different and the same. How do you feel about these lists? Are you happy, or despondent? What do you wish had changed but has not?
Now the next exercise can be done either speaking into your phone or writing, whichever you feel more comfortable doing. Give yourself a few moments to clear your mind and find peace. You can use a basic mindfulness starter or breathing exercise, just get yourself in a clear space where you are here in the moment free of distractions. Now imagine you are waking up one morning and getting ready to wash your face. On your way to the bathroom, you slip and have a nasty fall. When you wake up you are in a hospital room and have no idea how you got there. You can't quite remember details of your life, but people are coming into the room explaining who they are to you. First your spouse or closest friend comes to the room, who are they and how do they explain your relationship to you? Write or speak this out. Next comes your boss who tells you what you do for your job, how is this described? Slowly, more people from all aspects of your life come in and tell you who you are to them and you realize you are in control in an unique way. Because no one knows if you remember them or not, you can simply say you don't recall and remove any aspect of your life.
As you sit in your hospital bed for weeks you start to really think. All this time removed from your life has allowed you to see your life from a bird's eye view and it is so clear now what you should do. Who you should keep and who needs to go, what your goals should be and how to find happiness. As you prepare to be discharged from the hospital you have been able to think through every aspect of your life and evaluate how it should be lived. Start asking yourself how important these people and the tasks they attribute to you are. Do you feel happiness when you see these people, or disdain? This part of the exercise might take several days to perform. As you come to the different aspects of your life, ask yourself the question each time, how would this be described to me in that hospital bed and gauge your reaction. Using this method you will start to find the weak spots, time wasters and energy drainers in your life. Use these next couple weeks as your convalescence time and try to refer back to this exercise to re-evaluate your life. This hard reset in the world is a gift, but only if we treat it as such. It can't help you if you don't use it. Have any thoughts or questions? Reach out to us at info@bullionite.com.