open your heart to new possibilities
gaze at the stars
travel somewhere new
follow your passion
walk on the beach
paint a picture
make a new friend
dance with the wind in your hair
fall in love with your life
There are so many factors that make up how we feel about our lives and affect our happiness. Things like
- Health, both mental and physical
- Carrer
- Family
- Dreams and Ambitions
- Relationships
- Where we live
- Hobbies
- Environment
- Financial status
- Attitude
If things become unbalanced it is difficult to feel happy! I know this from personal experience. 2 years ago living in our “dream home”, happily married yet I was still unhappy. I was so grateful for all the amazing things in my life, yet I knew that my life was missing something. The questions was what?
Things in my life were off balance. I had many of the factors listed above ticked off, but others weren’t. Two of the big ones missing for me were Dreams and Ambitions, and the fact that I wasn’t looking after my Health. Once I identified these factors for myself I was able to start working on them! This turned my life around.
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” – Oscar Wilde.
In many ways I was just existing, I was lacking that real lust for life, that excitement. It is so easy for us to get stuck in life, to go through each day and be content enough, yet lack that deep sense of fulfilment. We wake up, we go through the motions and at the end of the day we lay our head on our pillow and we wonder where the day went? It is almost like not be present in our own life, not being aware enough to make each moment count.
Ask yourself are you making each day count?
In order to be truly happy and fulfilled you need to find balance in your life. You need to look at each dot point above and address each area.
- Schedule in a good hour or more to yourself. Even if you have to organise a babysitter.
- Write down each of the dot points above on a pad of paper, leaving space to jot down some thoughts.
- Look at each area. Ask yourself which ones stand out to you? Which ones do you know you feel fulfilled in and which areas you are feeling unbalanced in?
- Be honest, this is just for your eyes.
- Now focus on the areas you are not feeling positive about. Jot down the first things that come to mind about why you are no happy in this area.
- Give each dot point a rating between 0 and 10. 0 for the ones that you are completely unsatisfied in, and 10 if you are completely satisfied.
- Now focus on the area you scored the highest in, ask yourself why you are so happy in this area.
- Next focus on the lowest, ask yourself why? And Why is this area so different to your top area? What can you do to find more balance in each area?
- Know that you deserve balance and happiness in your life!!!!
- Write down at least 3 ways you can improve balance in the 3 lowest areas.
For example. If you score low on Attitude. Maybe you could write
- I will write 3 things I am grateful for each day in a journal before I go to bed.
- I will focus on smiling more. I will smile at myself in the mirror each morning. I will greet my children (boss, partner, co-workers etc.) with a smile.
- I will approach situations with an open mind.
There will always be things that are out of our control, and we can’t do everything or please everyone without becoming exhausted and overwhelmed. Go easy on yourself, don’t let others control you, take responsibility for the things that you can control and believe that you deserve to take care of yourself! My latest post about “control” is now LIVE, if you relate to this post then you will benefit from reading it.
Look at each day as an opportunity to be YOU, to live with authenticity and to find happiness in even the smallest things. Let go of past hurts, forgive yourself, be grateful for the little things, embrace life each and every day, and live with enthusiasm for your life!
You may wish to read my post about regret.
or
The things about life is you can’t control it.
Thanks for joining me, love Mackenzie xx
Follow me on Instagram @macglanville
my #mg link up is LIVE, come and link up your post!
23 comments
Beautifully written. It is such simple things in life that make us come alive, yet we fail to pay attention to them.
so true, thank you
Very well said mg. With 2 young kids I am struggling to manage some time to myself and the exercise you mentioned will really help.
oh I am so glad this will help you
I think if you are busy enough you just don’t have time to exist….
we have to find a way
This looks like a really interesting exercise. There are some areas completely out of my control, but perhaps even with an adjustment to attitude towards those areas, things may improve. Great advice! #TheList
I hope you give it a try, you will feel better xx
I love the idea of this Mackenzie – I’ve come a long way in improving how I look at life and how I’m living it. This gives another way to focus and move forward x
I definitely needed this post yesterday as it was a pants day. I have so much to be happy for but some days things can get a little bit too much and the guilt creeps in, am I spending too much tidying when I should be playing with the kids? do I nag too much? etc, etc. One thing I know being a mummy is very hard work but things like this can help us be a little bit more understanding and organised. Thanks #fartglitter
I love this – and I love your positivity. Such a beautiful way to start the week xx #fartglitter
You always speak my mind MG…Its been more than 1 week since I am writing gratitude list each night before going to bed. Its so positive and makes me happy.
I LOVE this! It is so easy to get stuck in life and not really live it – we let the mundane take over sometimes without really appreciating what is on offer out there to go live and experience. I watched the Jim Carey film recently called Yes Man where he had to say yes to every opportunity – had an amazing message to the film about loving more and not always saying no to things. Great post – thank you for sharing #BigPinkLink
This is such good advice and so well written Mackenzie. I think it is so easy to just get swept along day by day and not actually take the time to stop and drive your life into a better place. We should take responsibility for our own happiness rather than waiting for happiness to find us, and this is a fantastic practical way to embrace that idea. Thanks for sharing with #fartglitter x
Thanks so much lovely xx
Thanks for sharing this exercise. I’m going to give it a try.
#AnythingGoes
This is a fabulous exercise, and I’d been planning on doing something similar in a couple of weeks when both children are at nursery for 2 days a week. I need a good overhaul of my life, my house, and my health, and I’d planned on writing down everything I needed and wanted to achieve, and plans for changing the things I’m not happy about. I’m planning on making small changes, and setting small, attainable goals to begin with, and feel positive that I’ll soon be feeling more like living, less like existing! Thanks for the continued inspiration and positivity. xx
#bigpinklink
Great post Mackenzie. I loved the tips on how to figure out what area of our lives we should be focussing on. I have a tattoo that reminds me to live 🙂 And yet, this past year, I’ve been merely existing. But, I’m making changes and am about to start living again!
Such wonderful advice huni. You are very wise. Thanks for linking up to #TheList xx
Thanks xx
Generally, I think a lot of our lives are spent on autopilot – doing things because they need to be done, or because it’s the routine. It’s nice to break that routine sometimes and take time out for yourself. I love the advice of looking at each area in your life to see where you need to make some changes. I think we all owe it to ourselves to be happy!
Thanks for linking up to #AnythingGoes 🙂
Debbie
Good advice! Mostly just existing currently, but trying to get through a difficult situation & major upheaval. Aim to work on happiness after! #bigpinklink
This is a great post – lots of good tips on how how to take control and gain balance in life. This is a good reminder that so much IS in our control. x
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