“Life is a beach i’m just playing in the sand”

lil wayne

As the summer vacation season draws to an end, we wonder how to stretch it just a bit longer.  Wouldn’t life be wonderful if the rest of our lives were like our summer vacation or a beloved time in our lives?  If you like this idea, then use your past vacation experiences as a guide to your future.

Discover what made it wonderful

Typically the vacations we choose reflect the things we enjoy doing, unless you didn’t get to choose the vacation!  Even in this case, we’re sure you enjoyed some part of it.

Maybe your favorite vacation was when you cycled through France or Italy, enjoying the cuisine and wines of the country or when you stayed home and visited all the local attractions.  Maybe it was when you kicked back and read a bunch of books or played a record number of golf games.  Whatever it was, recall some of your favorite vacations.  Think about what was best about them.

• What did you do?
• Where did you go?
• What made you feel happy and full of life during that time and why?
• What made that feeling possible, e.g. was it the locale, the people with you, the activities, your sense of self?

Be specific and keep asking yourself why.  The deeper you delve, the more you will learn about the factors or characteristics that made those vacations the best.  These things are the building blocks for your future ‘best’ life.  A big part of living well means enjoying your life a large part of the time.  We aim for 90% of those days, recognizing that there are some basic responsibilities that are not fun but necessary!

By reflecting on your best vacation experiences, we know you’ll find some common themes.  Perhaps you enjoyed the foreign travel, cultural experiences, being physically active, spending quality family time, being home, learning about new things, warm weather, etc.  All of these give you clues about how you may want to spend your time going forward.

What’s your goal?

Okay, so now you’re saying, “Where is this going?  Vacations are vacations and real life is different.”  We challenge you to double your most enjoyable moments over the next year, or at the very least to increase them.  Think of ways to incorporate more of what you like in everyday life.  By adding more of what you like, crowd out the stuff you don’t like.  To achieve this you will be forced to make choices about how to use your time and what’s most important to you.  Use what you’ve learned from your vacations to make those choices.  Being clear about these priorities will help you get closer to living your most enjoyable life!

What does your most enjoyable life look like?

Recipe of the Week: Easy Grilled Chicken