How Much We Enjoy

My Challenge Today:

How much we enjoy …

By Bernadette Kathryn, LMT, IHLC

It is not how much we have,

but how much we enjoy,

that makes happiness.

~ Charles Spurgeon

How much we enjoy that makes happiness … it’s not how much we have, but how much we enjoy!!  How much do you enjoy the different elements of your life? If you were to take time and truly evaluate (not judge) evaluate the different components of your life ~ how would you rate them on a scale of 1-10? 1 being the worst — 10 the absolute best….

Let’s take a moment and quickly evaluate your current feelings about ~ don’t spend a lot of time on this, go with your initial gut feelings, they often tell the story …

• Your physical body?
• Your mental attitude – gratitude?
• Your career ~ sense of purpose?
• Your community connections?
• Your continuing education?
• Your family relationships?
• Your fiscal fitness ~ relationship to money?
• Your physical space, your love nest, your home?
• Your pleasure zone ~ how do you have fun?

When we look at all the components of a Living Fit Lifestyle and can honestly say that we are working on creating the life of our dreams, we are building happiness from the inside out. And, isn’t that what we all want anyway ~ to be genuinely happy? It is not the responsibility of our family to create our happiness, it’s not our job, our spouse or our friends ~ we are each responsible for our own happiness or not. We can and will go through difficult times in our lives when we may struggle with sadness and loss, but those moments do not define us as people. There may be days when we wonder if we will ever stop crying or will our stomach ever stop hurting but those days are not the total of our life and we need to look at each sector and declare what we want, what we have and what we need to do to make it the best for our overall Living Fit Lifestyle.

I have been going through a tough time lately, challenging issues at home, challenging issues with my mom growing older and the passage of time. I have spent a lot of time crying lately and a lot of time allowing myself to feel the pain of loss. I am definitely going through a grieving process and the emotional swings are like a wild roller coaster ride. I know in my heart, this will pass and while I am being supported by my friends and family, it’s still painful, sad and challenging ~ the cycle of life. To every up there is a down, to every left there is a right ~ I know I have many things to be grateful for and this is precisely the time to dig deep and look for those blessings ~ find the joy in my days.

The opportunity here is to become more conscious about our lives and make decisions based on current reality and desire for change, improvement and confidence. What area of the Wheel of Health do you want to focus your time and energy investment on? What areas of your life do you feel would benefit from some of your dedication to upgrading? How would you like to invest in your happiness?