Making Every Day Well-Lived (Part 3 of 3)
In parts 1 and 2, I layed out my daily priorities for building a creative life and for strengthening personal connections. Today, I’ll focus on the dual building blocks of habit and perspective.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
— Will Durant sums up some of Aristotle’s thoughts in The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World’s Greatest Philosophers
The key is repetition, ideally daily repetition. For me, that includes…
BUILDING HABITS AND WIDENING PERSPECTIVES
Building and maintaining healthy habits.
I’ve been strong and healthy all my life (knock on wood). I take no credit for it, it’s in my DNA. Because of this, I’ve often taken my strength and health for granted. I do little to support them. My boyfriend J is a strong proponent of building healthy habits, habits that I’ve greatly resisted, partly because I felt I didn’t need them. But I’m slowly beginning to realize that as I grow older my physical vitality will diminish and health habits are what will sustain me. J recently completed his first 10K. He’s now setting his sights on a half-marathon. As he sees it, will power is crucial for the sprint, but habits support the long-distance run. Habits sustain him when will power fails.
Exercising and treating my body well.
In my family, brain was always valued above brawn. I grew up thinking of my body as something outside of myself that I needed to tame. And that’s how I treated it, sometimes forcing it into submission, sometimes ignoring it altogether. In my mid-30’s, after discovering Scottish Country and Highland Dancing, I realized how much enjoyment I could get from taking care of my body and allowing it to thrive. I now see it as my most important tool and ally for living well. When it’s not happy, I’m not happy. So keeping it happy has a to be a priority.
Staying focused.
It’s easy to get excited about new things and distracted from what’s important. Plans, outlines, schedules, checklists all help me to stay focused and on target. And they serve as a reminder of what not to spend too much time on (Netflix, anyone?). To keep myself accountable, I participate in bi-weekly Mastermind calls. They’re excellent check-ins to determine both my progress and what my challenges are. And they keep me honest about both.
Staying open.
While it’s helpful to follow a plan, it’s equally vital to stay open to new experiences, new people and new opportunities.
“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”
— Joseph Campbell
This has often been challenging for me as I am not naturally open to change. But the positive changes in my life in recent years have inspired me to be more open to change in general. The truth is it never serves to resist it. Change will always win in the end, so I say embrace it and make the most of it.
Enjoying and appreciating beauty.
Every day, I am surrounded by beauty. I see it in the form of people who surprise me with their compassion and generosity, in San Francisco’s colorful and diverse cultures, in the Bay Area’s natural and man-made landmarks, as well as in fine and performing arts and innumerable other experiences. When I’m busy, it’s easy to forget the spectrum of experiences that are available. The old adage of “stopping to smell the roses” has never been lost on me, but sometimes it’s necessary to turn from passive observer to active seeker to truly engage with beauty.
Choosing experiences over possessions.
This one has become easier over the years and is now second-nature. In my 20’s, when I was first starting to make my own money and decisions about how to spend it, I fell into the trap that many do: I spent my money on things — cute, entertaining, shiny, fun, luxurious things. I didn’t have a plan for those things, I just bought and bought until there was no money left for anything else. I didn’t travel for 9 (!!) years because I had no money for it. But then I made a wish for enough money for a trip to London. And, within a week, that wish was granted. So I spent every penny of that money on the trip. And it changed everything. Now I have a savings account dedicated to travel. And whenever I’m tempted momentarily by a shiny new thing, I ask myself if it’s worth trading my next trip for. The answer is invariably no.
Living abroad and traveling widely.
This is a tough one to do every day, but I like to keep it in mind as a reminder to keep expanding my horizons and questioning my perspective. At least once a year, I make it a priority to travel internationally. It’s like hitting the reset button on my brain. I always function better after a trip as I’m able to see more clearly and take things in stride.
Honestly, there’s no way I can manage to do all of these things every day. If I can do a couple of them, I’m happy because I know that these little things add up. When I’m an old woman looking back over my life, I hope to be able to say that I used my time wisely, that I loved well and lived fully. That’s what it all comes down to.
Originally published on www.fogcitybloomer.com.
