Making the Most Out of Life

Recently, I did an article on how to relax and pamper yourself. After publishing the article, I launched a survey question that asked "are you making the most out of life." Of the responses, no one replied yes and no one replied once a year. Instead, the responses were "sometimes" and "NO!".

This concerns me for several reasons. We spend so much time in life working, stressing, worrying, caring for others, and anything that does not involve caring about ourselves. This goes for all people. If you are wealthy, your wealth still comes with a level of stress. Instead of financial stress, you are thrown into the world of lost time where you spend more time securing your financial status and less time with your family and friends. If you are not wealthy and are just comfortable, you are trying to either stay comfortable or become wealthy...and that takes time away from family, friends and self also. If you are neither, then you are trying to make it, day-by-day, check-by-check, and that is stressful in itself.

What can you do to fix this? What can you do to make the most out of your life? For starters, think more about yourself and less about others. I'm not saying be selfish or mean or negligent. I just mean that you are as important as anyone else in this world, so why not treat yourself like that.

For many years, I wondered why people used to live longer (like my great-grandparents) but they had the stresses of the world that we have today like wars, disease, poverty, etc. Well, I figured it out. Through all of the stress and issues that came upon them, they still found that "self" time that is so important in life. They also found joy in their families (even if they got on their nerves sometimes). The key is to slow down, take a breath, and enjoy life. Don't let the everyday problems of this world and your life get to you. If you are down, force happiness onto yourself. Go to a quick movie. Go window shopping. Go to your church, temple, or place of religion, if applicable. Go to the beach. Go to sleep. RELAX. Just relax and enjoy the time you have here in this world.

With less stress comes a longer, more enjoyable life. So, let's get rid of that stress. I did find an interesting article on eHow.com entitled "How to De stress your life" that shed some light on how to alleviate some of the stress of life. Like myself, the writer believes that making time for loved ones is important. We are here for only a short period of time, so take advantage of every moment.

TODAY, I CHALLENGE YOU TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF LIFE. Start with 15-30 minutes a day of "me" time where you focus on yourself. Gradually increase that to 1 hour, and your life will begin to become more enjoyable and less burdened by stress. Try it. What can it hurt?