You Only Live Once

Miha Matlievski
A Different Perspective
3 min readNov 12, 2016

Have you already heard for the expression #YOLO? Maybe you did, perhaps you didn’t. In this article I’ll tell you all about it, but first let me talk about some tricks and techniques in order to achieve happy living.

Technique of mindfulness is totally worth a try

In order to happily go through our lives and with no regrets, there are a few tricks. One of them is the technique of mindfulness.

You may be wondering “what on Earth is he talking about?” Well, hang on while I tell you why this might be one of the best secrets of life.

Let’s review this tiny little and pretty concept, shall we? Here we go:

mindfulness, noun:

the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something;

a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.

So, as you can see, mindfulness is all about living the moment. You have to agree, that does sound pretty cool, huh?

Imagine being always present. Huh?

Imagine how your life would be if you were always, 100% in the present. Would there be any space for you to think about work problems? Probably not, since we tend to picture those in the future. Would you be having nostalgic memories? Definitely not.

Mindfulness is one of the essential techniques to live a stress-free life.

Although it comes from Buddhist traditions and philosophies, it’s not all about that. It blooms best when you learn to calm down, for starters. Then, it helps you to think before you react to any kind of event.

Try this exercise. Try it NOW!

Right, baby steps first. Try practicing the next exercise as often as you can. It doesn’t matter where you are. Just make a small space in your day to do this and, with time, you’ll find yourself practicing it without effort.

Stop whatever you are doing at the moment. Close your eyes for a few seconds and breathe deeply. Inhale and exhale while putting your attention in your respiration. Feel how your body rises when you breathe in and how it descends when you breathe out.

Then, open your eyes. Look at the very first thing that you encounter. Let’s say it’s a book. Touch it. Let your fingers feel the texture of the cover and the pages. Smell the odor of the paper. Let all your senses immerse into the experience of feeling the book.

Now you are focused. Keep breathing and look around. Appreciate the time and place you are right now. You will proceed to carry on with your day after taking with you that calm state of mindfulness and you’ll see how well it all goes.

“There’s more to life than simply increasing its speed.”

— Ghandi

When you learn to really unwind, you’ll find out what true mindfulness feels like. Take your time, slow down and don’t let your life rush past you!

If you are interested in knowing more about how to create a meaningful space of your own, read my post “Get Ahead by Slowing Down”.

Now time for #YOLO: You Only Live Once

#YOLO means, of course, not that you should do whatever crazy thing you want just because.

Anyone can do crazy stuff without thinking about it or really paying attention to it. The trick here is to be able to take every single thing in your life (no matter how big or how small it is), and then go ahead and live it like crazy.

You are here and now only once. So you should take note of every second of it and make it count. #YOLO!

There are 1440 minutes in each and every day and only you know how you will use them. Use them well!

Thanks for reading! I’d really appreciate it if you ❤ this post so other people can find it.

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Miha Matlievski
A Different Perspective

Overcome: ▪️Depression ▪️Anxiety ▪️Stress ▪️Failure ▪️Need help from someone who championed those demons? Let’s talk! Reach out on FB!