Live Happier

 Reasons to Enjoy life

There are endless ‘purpose of life’ philosophies out there.  Simply type ‘the purpose of life’ in any major search engine and you will have reading material for years to come.  Philosophies primarily differ depending on religious creeds, cultural backgrounds, family values, and the economic focus of the person.  At some point, most of the philosophies boil down to enjoyment or satisfaction, which leads me to the purpose of this post.  Whatever your philosophy is for life, there is no reason that you should not enjoy what you do.  No job whether great or small is insignificant if you are satisfied.

Here are a few reasons that I have come up with:

1. Life is short.  Really it is.  How many of you remember things of your youth like they were just the other day?  Or remember something in conversation and realize that it happened a lot longer ago than you thought?  The truth is, that life passes us by quick, especially if you are living it to the fullest.  It seems like everyday I am left wondering where all of my time when.  The older I get the faster the time seems to pass.  There is no time to waste for things that you do not enjoy doing unless it is a necessity, or stepping stone to get where you are going.
2. Old age is not guaranteed.  It is a fact that people are living longer these days.  Mainly, this is due to advancements in technology and medicine that were unimaginable until the recent era.  Even still, life is no guarantee.  We have no idea when our time is up.  We simply must live life to the fullest.  Every moment is precious and valuable.  I once heard a story about someone working in a high paying job so that they could retire to a good life. When the person retired they sadly passed away less than 6 months later, never to enjoy the fruits of his labor. You may enjoy reading this quick short-story by Paulo Coelho about the fisherman.
   

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3. You have too many options.  In the past, there were fewer opportunities to do different things.  Not only that, but people were not able to easily find out about those other things.  Times have changed.  With the advance of technologies such as the internet, there are far more options available to you then you know.  With the right willpower, your opportunities are limitless.  You just have to realize that nothing happens in an instant, but with time you can realize your goals.  
4. Happiness is scientifically more healthy than sadness. Yes, there have been studies linking happiness to health.  In addition, people who laugh and enjoy day-to-day things more tend to have a better life perspective.  Check out a WebMD article about links from happiness to health.  Remember when you were little and people used to tell you that it took more muscles to frown then to smile? Accordingly, check out this article about laughter.  Laughter benefits to immune response, blood flow, relaxation, and more.
   

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5. Few will remember your feats.  This one is negotiable.  Let’s be honest though, we take our lives a little too serious at times.  The vast majority of things that we worry about daily are so insignificant that in a week no one would even remember them.  Multiply those things by your lifetime and add a few generations and they become even more insignificant.  I do not intend to ruin your ego, but even if you become famous, your feats will likely be in some dusty history books (Or some website. Thanks digital age!).  Seriously, how many people can tell you who the 13th President of the United States was, or what he did?  And that was a President.
   

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   Without a doubt some people are just timeless, Buddha, Gandhi, Jesus, Mohammed, Genghis Khan, Chuck Norris, et cetera, but the average person… Now, don’t take from this that you can’t be above average or stand out from the rest, you absolutely can if you set your mind to it.  Just take the message as a statement to not take yourself too seriously.

 

At the end of the day, many of us are blessed to have the opportunity to think about what we want to do and go for it.  We should not take that freedom for granted.  You need to embrace that thing you love and go for it.  Help out others along the way, and don’t ever forget where you come from.

 

What are your thoughts?

Do you enjoy what you do? Or do you seek something greater? What are your reasons to enjoy life?

 

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