15 Things That Might Be Ruining Your Life
Life is very short and the older you get, the more you realize it. Every New Year's Eve, we become painfully aware of just how fast time is flying and though the New Year is often a celebratory time, it is bittersweet as there is a small part of us that recognizes that a new year brings us that much closer to the end. Depressing, I know, but true nonetheless.
With 2016 coming to a close, we face the onset of a New Year and with that comes the dreaded task of compiling our New Year's resolutions. For some people, resolutions are short-lived and make an appearance in the first few days of the New Year only to disappear never to be heard from again, at least, until the next New Year. Others pursue their resolutions with aggression and find that they are much happier at the end of that year as a result. We should be encouraged by the examples they've set.
But no one says that you should wait until the start of a New Year to make important life changes. For some people, there are things that are happening in their lives right now that require significant change, the sooner the better, and there's no better time to start than now. Because life is short, it is up to you to make the most of it. Pursue your happiness.
The following is a list of 15 things that you may be doing in your life right now that require significant life changes and fast.
15 Still Living with Your Parents Due To Laziness
This generation of young people is at a significant disadvantage as they are faced with a struggling economy. Whether you have an advanced college degree or not, you may have realized by now that you are competing against many other college graduates for the few jobs that are available. Meanwhile, your student loan bills are coming in fast and furious and you're starting to wonder whether your college degree was even worth the effort and cost since your current job is compensating you just enough to pay for it.
There is a reason this is called the boomerang generation, as many young people who left home to go to college are finding themselves returning home after their commencement ceremonies because they simply cannot afford to live on their own.
While it is certainly understandable to return home where you are safe and devoid of responsibility, it does not do well for your confidence or maturity. Consider finding a roommate or renting a studio apartment - anything that is affordable that will allow you to get out on your own and away from the comfort of your parent's home. You will be much happier in the long-run because you can take pride in knowing that you are responsible what you have, however little it may be at the time. That pride can increase your confidence to find a better jobs, better relationships, and better quality of life.
14 Cheating on Your Spouse or Boyfriend
You are in a long-term relationship, whether it is with a boyfriend or a husband, but you've got a little something-something happening on the side. My question is why?
If you are unhappy with your current partner, so much so that you feel compelled to step outside of the relationship, why stay with that person? And if the person on the side is not good enough to compel you to leave your partner, why are you wasting your time with him either?
Cheating almost never ends well. One possibility is that you get caught by your partner, resulting in a lot of pain for both of you and the demise of your relationship, which you may later regret. Another possibility is that you don't get caught but become either overwhelmed by the stress of your infidelity or further disinterested in your partner, exacerbating whatever problems you had that led you astray in the first place. Either way, it does not sound very good.
If you are currently cheating on your partner, you need to make a life change. As they say, pee or get off the toilet.
13 Bouncing from Job to Job
Is your resume three pages long because you change jobs almost as frequently as your underwear? If the answer is yes, you need to make an important life change.
It's likely you're switching jobs frequently because you don't really know what you want to do in life. It's truly unfair that we have to select a college major when we are 18 or 19 years old because let's face it, you still don't really have a clue what you want to do in life at that age. Now you're in your mid-twenties and still trying to figure out to do with that degree.
Ask yourself this: what truly interests you? You may have interests now that you did not have when you were in college and that's okay. Unfortunately, this may require you to go back to college and take a few classes, which is expensive, but it's a better option than changing jobs constantly. Few employers are comfortable hiring someone who is a serial job hopper. Besides, we spend 40 hours a week at our jobs. That's over 2,000 hours a year. Why not find a job you actually like so that those 2,000 hours are not painfully long?
12 Overeating or Constantly Dieting
If you are overeating or constantly depriving yourself of small dietary indulgences, you may need to make some serious changes.
Overeating is definitely a problem because it poses various health risks, including obesity, heart problems, and a whole array or other issues. Food can be a wonderful thing, but unfortunately many of the foods in which we indulge have very little nutritional value and have been linked to serious problems, including cancer. If you are overeating, you definitely need to make changes. Consider eating three healthy meals a day and two small snacks, all of which should be packed with protein and some healthy carbs. Increase your vegetable intake as well.
However, if you are always depriving yourself of your favorite foods, where's the fun in that? Some people are perpetually on a diet and are not satisfied with their weight even though they are thin enough and fairly healthy. Remember, life is short. Eat a brownie once in a while. It won't kill you.
11 Skipping Exercise
I'm sure it is not necessary for us to go into all the many reasons exercise is important. Of course, it has numerous health benefits, both physical and mental, and by now you must know that.
Unfortunately, some people never even think of exercising, while others plan to exercise but then find an excuse to skip it for something far less exhausting and more fun. It must be said that exercise is a pain in the butt, sometimes literally, but the truth is that it can add years to your life that you can use to pursue happiness. That is a beautiful gift.
Even just a short workout of 20 to 30 minutes three times per week can be enough to keep you happy and healthy. Strangely enough, you may even find that once you start exercising, you start to enjoy it, and that you don't feel as good on the days you have not had a workout.
10 Getting Limited Amounts of Sleep
If you have been on a schedule that allows for limited amounts of sleep, you will need to make some significant life changes to correct this problem, and yes, it is a problem. Sleep is so important for your physical and mental health, so much so that a lack of sleep has been connected to numerous health problems, including high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.
Perhaps you have a job that demands overtime on a frequent basis, or you simply love your job so much that you are happy to commit more time to it at the expense of your sleep schedule. Unfortunately, you will need to make a decision about whether you will maintain this sort of schedule because the long-term effects of sleep deprivation are simply too serious to ignore.
If your lack of sleep is because you are a night owl with a social schedule that interferes with your sleep, same goes! You need to correct this and quickly. You're not getting any younger and the decisions you make are impacting your health. You may not feel it yet, but sleep deprivation will catch up to you. Don't allow it to create health problems that could have easily been avoided.
9 Binge Drinking
When you've had a rough day, or week, or year for that matter, there's sometimes nothing more alluring than a nice glass of wine or a delicious craft beer, or several, to help take some of the edge off. Once in a while, there is nothing wrong with indulging these cravings, but if you find yourself drunk or hungover more often than not, you may have a problem that requires a significant life change, and fast.
Unfortunately, alcoholism is an insidious disease that most do not see coming until they are well beyond addicted to the sauce. It's something every drinker should keep in the backs of their minds because there is a fine line between party animal and alcoholic. There is so much to lose as a result of alcoholism, including your job, your family, and your life, so why take the risk?
And even if you have firmly established yourself safely in the party animal zone and have no reason to fear crossing the line into alcoholism, there still comes a point when you must consider reducing your alcohol intake. There's a point in everyone's life when they realize that they need to grow up just a bit and limit the crazy binge drinking sessions. There are downfalls to frequent binge drinking to consider as well besides alcoholism, such as weight gain and health issues connected to overindulging in alcohol.
Take a night off once in a while and find something else to do.
8 Using Substances
This really should go without saying, but if you find yourself using drugs, it's probably time for you to consider a life change. Granted, some drugs are significantly worse than others. I mean, most would agree that if you smoke marijuana occasionally, you are still likely in a better place than someone who partakes in the use of crack. I mean, duh. Still, if you are a drug user, regardless of your drug of choice, it's probably time you made some changes to cut this habit.
There are both legal considerations and health ramifications related to your use of drugs. Additionally, you could potentially lose your job if you were asked to take a drug test for one reason or another. In fact, there are very few things that are worth the risk of taking illegal substances.
If you believe yourself to have a possible drug addiction, do yourself a big favor and seek professional help so you don't have to try and kick this habit alone. If you are a social drug user and choose to do drugs when you are with friends so you can let loose and have some fun, rethink your options. Consider an occasional drink, but be careful because if you have addictive tendencies, this can be just as unhealthy (see entry #9).
7 Sleeping Around
Nowadays it seems women are being led to believe that the sexual revolution freed us to explore our own sexualities, and the new school of thought desensitized us to the notion of free love and bed-hopping. However, no matter how you paint the picture, sleeping around with multiple sexual partners has robbed the modern women of her self-esteem and the beauty of lovemaking.
First and foremost, multiple sexual partners can pose numerous health risks and the risk of an unwanted pregnancy. Let's say that and get it out of the way quickly because most of you know this by now.
But there's more to it than just the physical health concerns.
If every day were Christmas, it would likely lose its allure relatively quickly. The same can be said for sleeping around with multiple partners, some of whom are one-night stands and mean nothing to you. People treat sex like it's a handshake when really it should be something more. Then when you sleep with someone who actually means something to you, so much is lost because you are engaging in an act that you also engaged in so many times in the past with so many insignificant people.
Besides that, when you give away something so freely that you really should be guarding, it can do a number on your self-esteem, especially when the person to whom you've given this gift just “hit it and quit it.”
Consider making a change to your life to limit your sexual partners to those who mean something to you and you can trust to not use you.
6 Avoiding Risks and Adventures
If you are someone who has “always wanted to… ” (fill in the blank), but never have, it might be time to make a life change.
Some people dream about skydiving but never do. Others have talked about wanting to visit Europe, but never do. Some have always wanted to try their hand at an amateur night at a local comedy club, but never do. You get the point?
Like we said earlier, life is short, so why are you wasting the limited time you have dreaming and not doing? Granted, some items on your bucket list may be more risky than others and should involve some research and careful planning to minimize major risks to your life, but others often get placed on the backburner simply because of convenience. If that's the case, your major life change should be to say “screw convenience!”
Our advice, make out a bucket list for you and start to check off the items. They say life is wasted on the living. Don't let that be true of you.
5 Pretending to be Something You're Not
This is probably true for everybody at one point or another in our lives. You find yourself putting on a front for someone simply because you are desperate for approval, or afraid of how others would react if they knew the true you. If you find yourself doing this all the time, or even more often than not, it is time to make a life change.
By now you should have figured out that the theme here is that life is short. As such, why are you wasting it denying who you are or pretending to be something you are not? No one is worth that sort of effort. You are never going to be happy if you are not yourself.
Make a life change and admit who you are to the world. If this means you're homosexual, or a geek, or a woman who is not interested in ever having children, so be it. Hiding your true self is detrimental to your own happiness. Besides, you're placing too much weight on what others think about you. You are who you are. Who cares what anyone else thinks?
4 Regretting
We all make bad choices and do something we regret at least once in a while. Regret is important because it is our conscience's way of experiencing guilt, and regret is how we learn to avoid making the same mistakes. It is when regret overcomes your life that it is a problem, however, and if you are wasting away your days in a pool of regret, you need to make a serious life change.
People who have lost good relationships because of bad choices will often experience this kind of regret. Some will feel deep regret if they did something to lose a great job, or a great opportunity. Regardless of why you are experiencing this regret, it is time to let it go. It is not healthy to your emotional well-being to wallow in regret. Besides, you may find that the thing you lost, whether it is a relationship, a job, or something else, was lost so that something even better can come along. But you'll never be open to those better opportunities if you're at the deep end of the regret pool.
Move on. Learn from your mistake, but forgive yourself.
3 Overspending
Doesn't it astound you when you hear about professional athletes that have declared bankruptcy despite having earned millions of dollars in their careers? Unfortunately, no one is safe from this reality. Some people simply do not have enough self-control, and if you're one of those people who dreads opening up your credit card bill every month, it is time to consider a major life change.
Overspending is an insidious problem in much the same way as drug and alcohol addictions. It is alluring to indulge yourself, particularly if you are a hard worker and earn a decent income, but indulgence becomes gluttony very quickly and if you're not careful, you can find yourself in debt in the blink of an eye.
If you are in the process of paying off student loans or a mortgage or even just an expensive car, you are already somewhat familiar with the burden of debt. Adding credit card debt to your already heavy burden is not wise, especially if you value your credit score and understand that you need a healthy one to own a home or your own business in the future. Stop spending, cut up the credit cards, and create a budget that you can easily follow.
2 Not Learning
It is such a relief when you complete your education because by then you are well past the point of needing a break from homework and studying and projects and papers, oh my! However, it is a misconception to believe that simply because you are no longer enrolled in school, the opportunity to learn is gone.
You are never too old to learn something new, whether it's a new language, a new craft, or a new hobby. Read often, do research, just do not let your mind dull. Keep it sharp by constantly exercising it.
Do not simply believe what others tell you, but reach your own conclusions after you've done your research. It will feel even better when you can hold your own in an intelligent conversation because you have enough facts to support your claims.
If you are someone who has enjoyed far too much television after graduation and has not picked up a book or watched a documentary since school, consider a life change. A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
1 Settling for Less
Finally, if you take away just one thing from this article, let it be this: do not settle for anything less than what you deserve. If you are someone who has become complacent in your life and settled for what you have instead of what you want, you may need to make a major life change.
This particular item is rather all encompassing because any of the aforementioned items on this list can fall under the general category of settling for less. If you find yourself doing this, here's my advice: stop! Do not settle for mediocre relationships, lackluster jobs, and just a general humdrum existence. Make yourself available for the many wonderful opportunities that are out there if only you allowed yourself the chance to go after them.
Life can be so beautiful, but it is up to you to pursue that beauty. You can find it in all things if only you stop settling for less.