Life’s an Adventure – Live It Well
Okay everyone, it’s that time of year again. No, I’m not talking about some made-up Hallmark holiday here, nope, not at all. I’m talking about the end of the winter doldrums, the burgeoning beauty of a long-awaited spring, and the desire to make some positive changes in your life. This is a great time to begin to make plans. New doors need to be unlocked and pathways forged where you begin to challenge the status quo of your life. Your life is an adventure—make it a good one.
We need to get rid of repetitive and negative mind-sets that are keeping you in a rut. Now is the to stop, take a breath, and to be honest with yourself. Forget age—healthy, positive changes can be made no matter the ‘number’ you see. It is only a number after all. Don’t let stereotypes of that number influence you in your decisions.
Ask yourself this question and be honest in your answer. Am I really on the correct pathways to what I, only I, need and want? If the answer is maybe or a flat ‘no’, here are a few tips to help you make some needed decisions.
Seek and make your own happiness
I love my family and friends but if I depended on any one of them to provide me with happiness on a daily basis I would be disappointed. The reverse would be true if they expected me to do the same. What makes you happy? Discover your own unique talents and skills and work towards opening a door that lets you use them.
Get off the guilt-trip.
Guilt is the most useless emotion we have. We are amazing creatures, we humans. We hold onto guilt and wear it like Hester Prynne wore the scarlet letter in Hawthorne’s famous book. We wallow in it, we develop a relationship with it, keeping it with us night and day. Guilt becomes our constant companion stopping us from living. Never think that by feeling guilty you are showing an acceptance of responsibility and never allow others to impose ‘guilt-tripping’ on you.
Be a life architect and design a blueprint for yourself.
Create a master plan for your life. Throw away what isn’t working, including family and friend relationships, and begin designing a life that you want, a life that feeds you emotionally and creatively.
Live life your way
Actor Sandra Bullock has the right idea about living life her way. She once said that her attitude is what’s made her happy.
“I never did anything according to what anyone else wanted. That’s why I think I am happy. I do everything 100 per cent. I fight every single day to live my true life because I don’t ever want to come home saying, ‘I should have spoken my mind. I shouldn’t have let someone tell me how to live.”
What a great piece of advice!
The hell with what others have. Make your life enviable!
Jealousy is a human emotion and perfectly normal. You couldn’t get through life without having been bitten by the green-eyed monster at least once. But here’s the problem—when you allow the envy to consume you, you are creating your own misery. Never spend part of every single day obsessing over what other people have or how they live. Spend more time on thinking of ways to make your life become the way you want it to be.
Remember that the happiest people are the ones who enjoy what they have, create attainable goals, and think of ways to make life better for themselves first. Become one of them. Seriously, whose life are you living? Make sure you’re living for you and that you make your own life an adventure worth taking.
© 2018 copyright Kristen Houghton all rights reserved
Kristen Houghton is the author of nine novels, two non-fiction books, a collection of short stories, a book of essays, and a children’s novella. Her latest novel, DO UNTO OTHERS, is book 4 in her best-selling series, A Cate Harlow Private Investigation. She is also the author of the Horror Writers of America award-winning Quick-Read, Welcome to Hell.
Kristen Houghton has covered politics, news, and lifestyle issues as a contributor to the Huffington Post and Thrive Global. Her writing portfolio includes Criminal Element Magazine, a division of Macmillan Publishing, Hartford Woman, Today, former senior fiction editor at Bella Magazine, interviews and reviews for HBO documentaries, OWN, The Oprah Winfrey Network, and The Style Channel. Twitter @kristenhoughton Instagram@kristenhoughton2 Website http://www.kristenhoughton.com
Author: Kristen Houghton
Kristen Houghton’s new book, Lilith Angel, was published in April, 2019 and is already in the top “fiction top five” by Nielson Ratings. She is the author of nine novels, two non-fiction books, a collection of short stories, a book of essays, and a children’s novella. The first four books in her best-selling series, A Cate Harlow Private Investigation, are now available in a special boxset. She is also the author of the Horror Writers of America award-winning Quick-Read, Welcome to Hell.
