#037: Living Your Best Sequels
Adapted from a 3-3-17.
You sit patiently in a theater awaiting the movie you’ve come to see as a long succession of movie trailers appears on the screen. You’ve already eaten half your popcorn as they drone on and on.….and on.
Then comes a trailer that catches your attention, before its title is shown you begin to recognize thing that spark excitement. You think to yourself, “I’ve seen these characters in a movie like this before…oh, that character was in it too… this setting looks familiar…I know that music…Whoa, it’s a sequel!”
“I didn’t see that coming. What a gift!”
You experience the sensations of wonderment and surprise as your mind pieces together the puzzle. You’re excited about the continuation of a story you once loved. You watch with anticipation as the preview plays on as . You can hardly wait to experience the sequel. You begin thinking of the people in your life who will be equally excited about it and can’t wait to share the news them. Maybe you can experience the sequel together.
What if we were able to approach every day with that level excitement and wonderment?
What if we shared our excitement with the people around us?
What if each new day was lived as though it were a thrilling new sequel to the life-story you lived yesterday, and many yesterdays before that?
Now, think of the people you couldn’t wait to share the sequel news with, or even the people who surround you on a daily basis. Today is a sequel to their yesterdays as well. Go be a part of it. Trade stories, allow your lives to intertwine, build memories together that make you want to live sequels with them again and again.
I read a quote by Robin Sharma that says, “Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.”
Living the same day over and over seems a lot like watching the same old movies over and over. It might be worthy of revisiting from time to time, but we’ve got to let our story expand. Cherish the past while creating new experiences that are full of wonderment and surprise.
We sometimes find ourselves in a funky routine that seems to drone on and on…..and on. Then some little thing will present itself that sparks excitement and rekindles our spirits. We begin to remember who we are and who we want to be.
Focus on the things in life that really excite you, then allow yourself to act on those things, to live your best life, as they say.
If we give ourselves permission to live our best sequels every day, to open ourselves to new experiences, to reignite the spirit of our younger selves, as we build on the life we love, to allow ourselves to experience the wonderment and surprise in each new day, we’d find ourselves frequently saying,
“Whoa, I didn’t see that coming. What a gift!”
The new year is a good time to reflect on the past and plan for the future. Let’s all plan to live our best sequels yet.
BONUS POST-
New Year Slush - Adapted from 1/4/16
Today is the first Monday of the new year. I pulled into the parking lot of the YMCA this morning and was blown away by the amount of vehicles in the lot. The invasion of the new year of resolutionarians (not a real word) had begun.
Gym memberships skyrockets at the beginning of every calendar year, then attendance levels drop dramatically by February’s end. It drops even more in March.
As I handed my membership card to the lady at the counter. She commented on the amount of new people who here today, as she opened up a new bag of towels.
It is easy to become a victim of our own weaknesses; dropping our good health habits for what feels good in the moment.. It is amazing how fast a body falls apart when we do. Ever hear people joke that round is a shape? We might like the funny way that sounds but no one likes the way that feels. I speak from experience here, it’s miserable.
Around the holidays we begin noticing little changes, like how difficult it’s becoming to get out of our vehicles, maybe we can’t tie our own shoes with anything resembling dignity as we struggle to breath in the hunched over position. Bumping into the edges of doorways gets annoying, as we feeling like a teenager going through a growth spurt, we don’t know how far reaching our bodies are right now.
Every year around mid-autumn it is easy to become unaware of our physical condition. The air turns cooler as the days become shorter. Outdoor activities become less available to us so it becomes much easier to sit on the couch longer in the evening. We enjoy snacking for hours then go to bed with full bellies.
Later in the year holiday food is all too accessible. There are bowls of candy everywhere you look. Friends get together for meals at one another’s homes. We cook bigger and bigger portions, followed by bigger and better deserts, followed by another trip to the candy bowl.
It is easy to let ourselves slid through the holidays while promising that we’ll take control on January one.
A body that is usually streamlined, strong, agile, flexible, and full of energy most of the year becomes slow, awkward, tight, and tired in the winter. Our default button seems to be set on slush.
We live in a wonderful time in a great country where food is so accessible. We are fortunate to have stocked grocery stores all over town. There are convenient stores everywhere. We have restaurants-a-plenty.
It is up to us to monitor and control ourselves. There inlays the problem. We love our comfort foods. We are, after all, Americans. It is a struggle for many of us to force ourselves into an exercise regimen and smarter eating habits. I think the lost words I’m searching for here are “self- control and self-discipline”. We all vaguely remember hearing these words sometime in the past, right?
After the holidays many people can bounce back fairly easily. Some take a little longer. Others never come back at all but continue to see the decline in their health year by year.
Once we begin our journey to making better choices with our overall health we begin to build momentum. We get excited about reaching our goals of becoming healthier. We begin to see the results of our positive choices and hard work. Our self-confidence rises, thus causing us to continue making smarter choices.
Beware my friends, there’s always another holiday feast lurking around the corner. Even in the summer. This is, after all, America.
Good luck with whatever your new year goals are.