Life Is Short – Enjoy It | The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans LLC

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I was reminded this week of just how short life really is, when a dear friend’s mom passed away. This mom was always around for big events and supported the things my friend enjoys. She did things that made her happy which made life something to enjoy.  This made me think about how many people don’t really enjoy their life which causes a spiral effect of being unhealthy, which causes them to like their life even less, making them even more unhealthy.

For many years I was not a happy person. I was lonely, depressed (not clinically, but still depressed), and in general just going through life in the most “blah” way. I never did anything fun. I never did anything for myself. I never did anything to make life better, just going through the motions of living. Then one day I decided that life wasn’t worth living if I couldn’t enjoy it. I wanted to find ways to make life more fun so I started looking for things that I enjoyed. I started reaching out to others. I started looking for friends that I had things in common with. I started looking for people and activities that made me happy. That’s when I started enjoying my life again.

I have a few friends that never seem to be happy. They are down and depressed because of things in their life that they can’t change. I know that there are some things in life that aren’t fun but sometimes we have to make the most of the bad situations to be able to live a little bit better. I have other friends that always seem to be on top of the world, happy! These are the people I want to be more like!

Here are a few things that I found to help me when I didn’t feel like life was worth living.

  • Help someone else. There are always people that need help with something…there is always someone in worse condition than you are in. Volunteer to do something for a nursing home, hospital, retirement center. There are always lots of needs that go unnoticed to the common person. Children’s hospitals love new toys, stuffed animals, dvds, blankets. A lot of cities have “Meals on Wheels” programs for home-bound people. A lot of cancer patients would welcome a friend to come clean their house for them or just sit and listen to them.
  • Find a charity that you believe in to get involved with. Four years ago my best friend was going through breast cancer and I felt hopeless. I was wanting to help in a “bigger way” than just supporting her but wasn’t sure what I could do. While visiting her in the hospital a volunteer came around and mentioned the Susan G. Komen 3-Day and I immediately knew that that was something I could do to feel like I was helping in a bigger way. Another friend has a child going through cancer and I wanted to help them, too. I volunteered to help raise awareness by walking a 5k with them. This made me feel like I was doing something important.
  • Find friends that support you in positive ways. There are some people that are always upbeat and positive. (The Sisterhood has A LOT of people like this). There are others that couldn’t say something positive if it was the last thing they had a chance to do. The upbeat and positive ones are the ones that will build you up and make a difference in your life. Surround yourself with as many of these people as you possibly can!
  • Look for the positive in your day. There is always something to be thankful for. If you are struggling with this start with the small things like “the sky is blue”,  and work your way up to the big ones like “I lost 5 pounds in a week”. We may have to dig deep some days but there is always something to be positive about! At the beginning of this year I decided to start doing a “thankful” post on Facebook every day. Some days are easy to say I am thankful for something. Other days are a bit harder. Those are the days that I say something like, “the sky is blue”!
  • Do something for yourself that makes you happy! I have a friend that loves to bake, so she bakes for her friends and family nearly every day. I have another friend who loves to quilt, and she makes quilts for people and gives them as gifts. I have another friend who loves to knit so she knits for charity. Find something that makes you smile, and do it!
  • Exercise….do something that you enjoy while doing it. This week I went to a water aerobics class and was surprised at how much I enjoyed doing it! I love to be outside to exercise but it’s HOT in Texas now so my exercise is limited to walking very early most of the time now. But, because I was in the water exercising I wasn’t hot and I was getting a good workout at the same time! If you don’t enjoy what you are doing while exercising it is highly unlikely that you will continue doing it, so make sure what you are doing you like (or at least like enough that you can continue doing because you know you will love the results)!

All of these things will help you be happier and being happier will help improve your overall health.

Let’s live life to it’s fullest so that we can say we have lived life right! Life is short, so enjoy it the best way you can!!

xoxoxo,

Ann

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