Is there? No, really…is there more???
Oh yeah, there’s more! So much more.
You see brothalemew, there might come a time where you feel like you’ve got it all. Then, all of a sudden, reality sets, in and you realize life is happening all around us all the time. Meanwhile, you’re just stuck doing the same thing day in and day out.
Should you do more? Should you try to get more?
Well, the short answer to both of those questions is a resounding kinda…
The problem is that a lot of people have the wrong idea of what you should do to get more and do more.
Yesterday, I talked about granny bear (God rest her soul) and how she worked 16 hour days pretty much all the way up to her retirement. I think anyone would agree that that’s a lot. And that’s not even mentioning the volunteer work she did and the hours she logged in the church being a deaconess.
I’m not saying she wasn’t a happy person because she was, but she always told me she felt unfulfilled and hoped that somehow life would bring her more.
So how do you get more fulfilled in your own life?
In a word, PRESENCE.
How Do You Get Present?
Well, first off you don’t get present. You become it. Presence is the essence of appreciation for life.
When you’re working long days, and grinding hard at that thing we call “adulting,” you tend to lose that sense of presence. You get caught up in getting to the next hour, getting through the day, and then just hoping that can get you through to your next vacation.
I honestly get it, Andrea Brocelli. It’s easy to lose sight (see what I did there) of what’s beautiful in the world, but the good life is simply a (deep) breath away.
Fulfillment in life starts in the morning when you wake up. It’s a moment to appreciate the fact that you’re alive. That everyone you love is healthy and that your every thought is completely within your control.
Look, you can get present in a lot of ways. You can just sit quiet, you can focus on your breath, you can focus on your body, you can even focus on whatever is in front of you. The key is to take a moment to eliminate the desire to do more and simply accept that you already have so much that you aren’t even aware of 90% of it.
Get What You Want
I would like you to consider that getting what you want can actually be easy. It’s as easy as believing that you already have it, then sitting quietly and appreciating the fact that you already have it.
I could talk about this forever, but I’ll end it here with this:
At the end of the day, you don’t want more money or a promotion. You don’t want a new house or even more friends. What you really want is to feel good. Or a better way to think about it is that you simply want to try to avoid ever feeling bad.
Take a deep breath and focus your mind on only your breath. That air that goes into your lungs, helps your heart. The very organ responsible for your being alive.
Listen to it.
Jerry “listening” Washington
P.S. There are a lot of ways that you can get present. More and more people are starting to turn towards the meditation and mindfulness space because we are beginning to realize that we’re burning ourselves out chasing the next thing. I’ve helped a lot of people develop a mindful practice and I’d love to help you too. If you’d like to know more about how your thoughts and actions lead to presence, feel free to reach out. Talk soon…
