Are You Ready to Live Your Best Life Today?
By on March 8, 2018
What does living your best life look like? I know so many friends who are on a quest to live their best lives today. I admit I’m on this journey too and am constantly challenging myself to grow, feel my feelings and be present in all that I do. I read books that challenge me to grow emotionally and spiritually, I have revamped my diet to bring me foods that support my health and have surrounded myself with relationships that support all of these things. I truly believe that if you’re not growing, you’re dying. The thing is, when you’re on a ‘living your best life’ way of living, the Universe will put challenges in front of you that push you outside of your comfort zone. Living my best life doesn’t mean stress free, it means embracing life and whatever is in front of me.
In my life, what I’ve seen is that the more I am willing to grow the more of my ‘stuff’ pops up for me to face and deal with. Today I read something from Brene Brown about being mid-life and to stop using coping strategies to deal with life. It said, “Your armor is preventing you from growing into your gifts.” I know this is a message for me, because just this morning I was talking to a girlfriend of mine about this exact thing. When I think of armor I think of it being fear based. What are we afraid of? What is preventing us from living our best life now? It all stems from fear. Fear of getting hurt in a relationship, fear of being alone, fear of failure, fear of losing our jobs, fear of never writing that book or taking that trip….the list goes on and on.
To me, living your best life means being your authentic self (no false pretenses – living from your core) and saying yes to your dreams, desires and what makes you, you. Want to swim with sharks, you book it. Staying home on a Friday night watching a movie with your sick child, you are present. Don’t want to be alone, then you choose to date and put yourself out there. Living your best life is just that, living your life. You’re not waiting for ___ to be happy. You’re not waiting to book that trip, wear that dress, use that China…why would you wait for your best life to start? Living your best life also means to me that you’re not making decision based in fear but instead faith. You decide to pursue a job that is outside of your comfort zone, you get to know a new friend over coffee – you are choosing to live. You are choosing to live your best life. Why would you not choose that which challenges you to grow and feel?
Ask yourself, what does it mean to you to live your best life? I was talking to my girlfriend Tracy (Dixon) and I love her answer, “An inner balance with myself, my family and my profession. When I’m out of balance – nothing works. The struggle is always – people accepting and not judging even if they don’t understand.” Amen, sister! I believe that living your best life today doesn’t mean you have all the money, answers or time to do what you want to do. It means that you are choosing to really live and not make decisions out of fear. I also believe that living your best life means not living in the past or worrying about the future. It means being present in your life today. This has been my big lesson recently. I’ve had to really harness in my inner “What ifs…” – which are fear based – and just live in the present -today. It’s not easy if you have a brain that is constantly swirling and emotions that play havoc on reality. My old way of living was “paralysis by analysis.” Not good and not living my best life. It’s also not the example I want for my daughter either. I want her to have a passion for life and living her best life today. I want her to take chances, make conscious choices and embrace this big, beautiful world. Are you ready to live your best life? Join me – I’d love the company!
Xoxo Melissa
Dream beach house….beach….living my best life in CA with my daughter
