What it means to enjoy your life

Enjoying your life is more than having moments of happiness.

Pleasurable feelings will always come and go. As will painful ones.

Truly enjoying your life means trusting that you can take care of yourself no matter what feelings you experience today and for the rest of your life.

That you have the ability to be with whatever comes your way, knowing that you’ll be ok on the other side.

Even if that experience feels terrible.

That joy — the joy of self-confidence — is priceless. Cultivating it is empowering. It reassures you that you get to be happy with you for the rest of your life.

Developing that confidence begins by learning how to be with all the feelings, even the hard ones.

Ones like anxiety. Like stress. Like overwhelm and sadness.

Being with them means sitting with them without reacting, resisting, or avoiding them. And without making your feelings mean that you’re broken or failing.

Instead, you get to know the feeling. You understand its physical sensations and the thoughts that are creating it.

That’s what feelings are, after all. They are physical sensations we experience when we have a thought.

The power of this process comes from the realization that feelings can’t hurt you. And that you have a choice in how you relate to them.

The process gives you freedom to be in your life in a way that you didn’t think possible. Like pursing dreams, curbing people pleasing, ending overeating/drinking/shopping. Or simply being ok with wherever you’re at right now.

Imagine what’s possible with that kind of compassionate confidence.

Pure joy.

About the Author — Sara B. Weeks is a certified life coach empowering midlife anxious women to enjoy their lives. Website: www.sarabweeks.com. Social: LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.