8 Daily Reminders to Help Keep You Going Forward
Life can be really hard to deal with sometimes. But you have to keep moving forward, no matter what. Here are 8 reminders to help you do just that! By Briallyn Smith
There is a short and powerful quotation by Chuck Palahniuk that states simply: “This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time.” In our day-to-day rush to get everything accomplished, it can be easy to forget how precious each day, hour and minute of our life truly is.
It can be stressful trying to live the “perfect life” in today's society - everywhere you turn, there seems to be another article telling you exactly what you need to do in order to be living a fulfilling life. What's worse is that all of these plans seem to contradict each other - no sooner do you finish researching one new set of very specific guidelines about how to live a happy life than another plan comes along that suggests the exact opposite!
I have to confess that this article is no exception. However, these eight things that you need to just accept about life have the contradictions built right in - so this is truly the only article you're going to need (ha!).
Daily reminders everyone needs to keep in mind
Once you accept these things, I can't promise that your life will be immediately improved, but you will be at a healthier place where you can start making improvements - because as much as everyone in this culture wants to tell you what you need to do, you really are the only one who knows exactly what your own life needs!
That is why these suggestions aren't as specific as you may be used to - take the general principles, and reflect on how best you can apply them to your life, or even just a portion of your life.
#1 You need sleep. I know, I know - this seems like a strange place to start. However, one of the first things we tend to do when we think about improving our own lives is to think about the things that we need to add into our lives. This is dangerous - a richer life does not necessarily mean a busier life! Beyond this, sleep is important for a number of health reasons and being well rested will definitely help you to enjoy the activities and people that are already a part of your life.
#2 You have to keep your eyes open. As important as sleep is, it should only take up eight to ten hours of your day - max! The rest of the day, whether you are working, exercising, visiting with friends or relaxing, it is so important to be fully present and engaged in the moment!
By being fully awake and aware of everything happening around you, you will find that the time you already spend involved in each of these activities will be richer, and if your eyes are truly open, you may also see new opportunities that you would have missed otherwise. I'm looking at you, people who can't seem to keep their eyes off their phones!
#3 There are going to be bad days. While this doesn't seem very positive, it is something you need to accept - even if you come up with a seemingly airtight plan for improving your life, even if you get your dream job or love interest, there will still be bad days!
There will be days when things don't go as planned, when you just wake up cranky and are unable to shake it or when the world seems to be against you - and that's okay! We tend to be most upset about these days if we think that we don't deserve them - when in truth, days like these have nothing to do with what we deserve. They are just a part of being human! Once you accept that these bad days are going to happen, they often don't seem as bad anymore!
#4 There are going to be good days. This is also something that's important to accept - there are going to be days that come out of nowhere that end up being the best days of your life! When these days show up, it is so important to cherish them! Days when you feel like everything in your life is going right are important to hang onto, particularly for those days that aren't as great, as a reminder of how wonderful your life really can be.
#5 People change. This realization is one of the hardest ones to accept, but it is also one of the most important. It is all too common for us to just assume that the people we have in our lives will always interpret the world in the same way, and will always feel the same way about issues or people or current events.
It can be incredibly dangerous to make this assumption - because if you rely too heavily on the people in your life staying the same, noticing a change in them can severely affect the way that you would see the world. It is much healthier to anticipate shifts in the viewpoints of those around you, and to be constantly aware of the nuances in their personality as they happen so you aren't overwhelmed by a seemingly sudden major shift!
#6 You can't force people to change. Equally as important, and forgotten almost as often, is the knowledge that you cannot force people to change their feelings, viewpoints or beliefs. It is human nature to believe that we have figured out what is right, and that we are helping those we love by trying to get them to believe the same thing. That isn't the case, however.
The world is much richer because of the incredible number of unique perspectives we have, and you need to learn to accept others' beliefs while still remaining satisfied with your own, in order to have healthy and satisfying relationships.
#7 The most valuable resource you have is the past. Your personal history and the past experiences of those close to you are some of the best places you could ever go for advice. Looking at what you have accomplished, or the mistakes you've made, or hearing about others' similar stories can inspire you and give you concrete ways to improve yourself individually.
No matter what you are going through, there is someone else in the world who has experienced something similar in the past, and they will be able to help you through it. Do not discount your past experiences, even if they aren't what you wish they were, because they brought you to where you are now!
#8 Everything is forwards from here. As important as the past is, what's done is done! Even though you can learn from the past, you cannot go back in time and re-do it. You need to accept this because guilt and regret can cloud even the brightest of futures.
Once you have dealt with a situation, and learned from it, you need to release it and look forward - there are adventures ahead of you that you could never dream of, and you won't be able to see them if you are forever looking into the past!
These daily reminders can help keep you in check, whether on days when you feel like there's nothing interesting going on or on days when you feel like the ground is quaking beneath your feet. Hold on to these daily reminders, cherish them, and pass them on to those who need a little nudge in the right direction.
