Month: October 2012

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Living by Your Gut Instincts

Ever get the feeling that you’re running faster and faster, careening along on the ragged edge of control, just trying to keep up with everything going on in your life? Uh-huh; that feeling. The one that makes your head spin and your adrenaline stay amped up to crazy levels as you try to process and deal with everything coming at you.

I don’t know about you, but the past month and a half has been like that for me. There’s so much going on that sometimes I can’t even begin to think coherently about what I need to do next—whether it’s cheer up my grandfather who is slowly but surely losing his fight against cancer; support my mom as she deals with the very real trauma of knowing she’s losing her father; work; be active on multiple social media platforms; or spend time nurturing my own developing relationship with someone I’ve met. To say that my head is often spinning like a top and I’m distracted far beyond my norm is no exaggeration! And while I’m not complaining (much) about it, I’ve come to the realization that I need to make some changes in how I deal with it all.

I don’t have a formal “plan” in place that gives me 3, or 5, or even 7 steps to follow. Nor am I looking for one. Instead, I’m working much more instinctively than that; at a gut level that often seems to defy logical thinking. Is it a perfect solution? No; nothing ever is. But what it is doing, is getting me back in touch with the instincts–which are often collected information that can only be accessed at a level well below that of conscious thought–which are my truest guide to making the decisions that I need to make.

It’s not always easy to live by the “trust your gut” method. Our conscious, supposedly rational mind loves to throw every possible “what if…”, “this isn’t…” and “OMG this is gonna be…” scenario at us that it can come up with. It’s even harder to try and regain your faith in those gut instincts when you’ve spent so many years overriding them. But for me, it’s something that I’ve got to do: there’ve been too many instances recently where it’s been proven to me that my gut was right and my head was wrong.

In the end, whether you live by your gut, your mind, or a combination of the two, it all comes down to living with the choices you made. And while it’s sometimes scary as hell, I’m going with my gut and choosing to fly. I may crash and burn; I may soar like an eagle; most likely it’ll be a combination of both. But come what may, I will have lived. And that, my friend, is the whole point of living by your gut: it takes you through so many more interesting journeys and experiences than the rational, doubting mind will ever allow.

So here’s to life and the living of it. Fly high; the journey and the experiences it will bring are never wasted.

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On Living Life to Its Fullest

Image courtesy of Flickr user IcyAero“Live life to its fullest.”

It’s a phrase we all say. Some manage to live up to it their entire lives. Others of us…well, we struggle with it. We get sidetracked by the sea of little details and crises happening in our daily lives, only occasionally experiencing the greater highs and lows, and lose our focus on the bigger picture. In short, we exist rather than truly living. Too often it takes a major scare (health, financial, etc.) for us to realize that we need to make a major change in our attitude toward living, like, RIGHT NOW.

I’ve been guilty of falling into that trap more than once. What I refuse to be guilty of, moving forward, is staying in it.

This isn’t a sudden decision. I’ve been actively working on living this way since the end of last year, when I started dealing with a great many major changes in my life. I’m taking chances on the unknown, trusting that I can handle whatever is thrown at me (good or bad). As a result I’m happier, less stressed, and enjoying my life in a way I hadn’t for longer than I’d truly realized. And it shows–in very visible ways–to those around me, as well as in how I see myself.

I don’t want my biggest regret to be never having had the guts to do the things I want to do, or experience all the fun and laughter that life and the special people within it can bring.

I’ve been recently reminded (in a very visceral manner) that life is too short not to seize every chance we have to make the most of our days. So while I sometimes face the future with a great deal of trepidation, I’m pushing forward to the things I know are out there waiting for me, if I just have the courage to reach for them.

“My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each day’s a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride”
lyrics quoted from “If Today Was Your Last Day” by Nickelback

So grab your life and shake it by the horns, my friend; get everything out of it that you can. Experience the highs, the lows and everything in between so that when they finally write your epitaph, it doesn’t read “Never lived life to its fullest”.

Image courtesy of Flickr user IcyAero