Live Consciously and Reclaim Your Life

Do you ever feel like you’re just going through the motions? You get up each day, go to work, come home, make dinner, clean up, watch some television and go to bed. Before you know it, the alarm is ringing and you get to do it all over again. It’s like the movie Groundhog Day – but it’s happening to you in your life.

But what if you could become more connected with your own experiences? Do you think you would enjoy life more? Feel happier? More content? Maybe even have more control over your life? I think you would…by living consciously – you can get BACK to your life!

Let’s make a decision to live more consciously, shall we?

What Exactly Does it Mean to Live Consciously?

Living consciously involves regaining control over your life. Instead of doing something automatically – with no real thought, you’ll think about it and why and how you want to go about doing it.

Living consciously means you get to see the people you wish to see and take part in the activities that you prefer to. When you live consciously, you’ll consider what you want to eat and how you want to spend that one hour of free time you get each night. You’ll discover true freedom of choice.

How to Live Consciously in Everyday Life

You can see how living consciously can make your life more fulfilling, but you still need to get up everyday and do the things that need to get done, right?. One of my favorite quotes is from Dr. Wayne Dyer. He said “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” When you live consciously, you can look at your daily routines or everyday tasks in a different way and possibly change them up a little to make them more interesting.

1. Maybe you can get up 15 or 30 minutes earlier a couple of times each week to try that exercise DVD you bought but haven’t opened yet.

2. Maybe you get up those 15 or 30 minutes earlier everyday, and the days you don’t work out you spend reading a chapter or two of an inspirational book.

3. If you eat the same breakfast everyday, try switching it up…switch to a different brand. If you eat cold cereal primarily, try some oatmeal.  Throw some fruit in there or switch the fruit you are eating. My new favorite obsession is the French yogurt Oui. It’s thick like Greek yogurt, but creamier and doesn’t have that tang that regular yogurt does.  It comes in a glass cup, so it makes me feel like I am eating something decadent and fancy.

4. Switch up your evenings by taking a walk after dinner instead of sitting like a lump on the couch. Play with your kids or pets – get them off their phones (the kids that is…I’m assuming your pets don’t have phones – yet!).  Engage your spouse or significant other in some conversation – tell each other the best and funniest parts of your day.

Work

Ah work – the ultimate four letter word! Again, look at what you’re doing in a different light. Are you doing your best? Have you looked at your day to day tasks and really considered if there might be a more effective or efficient way of doing something? Don’t fall victim to the “but we’ve always done it this way” mentality – challenge yourself to find ways to make your job more efficient. Work smarter – not harder. The more you notice what you’re doing, the more you will strive to better yourself at your job.

If the opportunity presents itself, or there is something burning in you to do, talk to your boss about it. That project that you really want to work on may be just the thing to rekindle your interests in your ho-hum job and you will experience the satisfaction that comes with consciously working on projects that desire to do.

Free Time

What the heck is that, you’re thinking, right? I was right there with you. After I worked all day, I would have to rush home straight from the office to care for my Dad. Now that he has passed, I still rush home, but then I look around and think – “what am I supposed to be doing?” For a time, I just sort of walked around in a daze, or sat in front of the television, not really paying attention to what I was watching. I was going through the motions until I went to bed. It was wasted time that I won’t ever get back. Now I make a plan and live consciously each and every day.

I like to plan out my weekly activities on the weekend – but always leave some room to be flexible. Think about what you really want to do when you get home from work. Maybe instead of going straight home, you want to stop at the craft store and take that beading class? Maybe, you and the other guys from the block hang out and watch the game in someone’s man cave.

Maybe it’s something simple like, “I’m going to take a hot bath, have a glass of wine and read a good book.” What matters is that you put thought into what you want to do.

Thinking consciously enables you to reclaim the control in your life – so that you have the life you plan – not the life that happens to you. It will bring you joy, pleasure and contentment.

Putting it all Together

To live consciously is to STOP wasting time doing activities you’re not really interested in. When you make a promise to yourself to live consciously, you are opening the door to a new, more joyful life.

1. What do you TRULY want?

2. Who do you really want to spend time with?

3. How can you spend your free time in ways that recharge you and bring you happiness?

4. How can you increase your work performance by becoming more engaged?

5. Are you taking care of your physical self the way you think you should be ?

Your TRUTHFUL answers to these questions will lead you down the path of conscious living.

Go ahead now and take this first stem in your journey to reclaiming your life today. Say to yourself: “I will live consciously every moment of this day.” Each morning, when you are getting dressed, repeat this out loud to yourself as you look in the mirror. Make this promise to yourself every day and soon you will be creating the life that you truly desire.

Until next time,

xo Jamie xo

Go Happy Yourself!!

#gohappyyourself