Does your day look and feel tired with monotonous routines that seem unexciting? Are you feeling purposeless in life, with nothing to look forward to? Do you feel you have lost the drive to fight for your goals?
We started out having a beautiful vision of our ideal life and goals to reach, yet in the middle, life happens. Mistakes happen, disappointments occur and even unexpected changes strike at times we least expect them.
Then, life seems to lose its sparkle.
While it may seem difficult to recover the brilliance in your gem when such situations happen, here are some ways you can apply to pick yourself up back on track again.
- Start with small excitements. Have something to look forward to today, tomorrow or even this evening. What is one thing that gets you excited and looking forward to? Do the small things that bring smiles to your face; things that you enjoy once in a while but won?t spiral into an indulgence e.g. buying new stationery that you would treasure, making/drinking your favourite soup, reliving an old cherished moment or thinking about family or an old friend.
- Practice good habits that will make you feel good. Focus on activities that you may not like but will bring you great benefits, such as going for a 30-minute exercise, eating well or sleeping early. Focus on building your well-being, through self-care. When the physique is taken care of, the mind feels better too. Stay away from short-term gratifications such as shopping for unnecessary stuffs that you won?t ever wear or use, emotional snacking or spending hours on games as these may seem fun at the moment; activities that bring negative side effects after the activity.
- Let go of what?s not serving you. Do less or none of those that don?t mean much to you, especially if they are making you more stressful. For instance, if you find yourself being buried with more work thinking that these activities make you feel more productive, but if you are feeling drained out emotionally and physically, it is not doing you any good. Enjoy and stay engaged when you do what you like. Be in the moment of focus and involved with what you do, be it painting, putting up a jigsaw puzzle or creating something that you will be proud of.
- Build good friendships, and release the bad ones. You know who are the good people in your life. These may be family or friends who care about you to tell you the truths you need to hear, even though you may not like it. They are the people who connected with you and supported you when you faced tough situations. They could also be people whom you have forgotten to keep in touch with when life happens. Could you find an opportunity to touch base and reconnect with them again? On the other hand, let go of people who are toxic or bring you negative energy. Stay away from people who are always putting you down, competing or comparing you to them or others. It is hard, but you will feel so much better when you do.
- Get out of your comfort zone a little each day. When we are stuck in doing the same things day in and day out, we get bored and restless after a while. When you have something that challenges you every day, even a little, you will feel more productive or that you have spent your day in a meaningful way. Always be searching for ways to challenge yourself daily. It could be a simple act such as holding a door for someone, greeting your neighbour or helping an elderly, or you could increase the level of difficulty day by day to doing a monthly challenge or doing something you have always wanted to do.
- Get involved in meaningful activities. e.g. volunteer work. When we live our lives focused on ourselves, it feels great at first but the excitement wears off after a while especially when you seem to have achieved a majority of your goals. When you set your goals beyond yourself and work towards a cause you are passionate about, you will reap more good feelings in a longer-term.
- Do what you used to enjoy. Don?t be too caught up looking for new experiences. While new interests and activities pop up every now and then, if there is an activity you have tried once and enjoyed, go back to it and see what you can derive more from that experience. Also, remember what used to excite and inspire you. How can you do more of that today to remind yourself of the happiness, hope and excitement you once experienced. Do things that resonate with you, even if others think you should not do.
- Create your own happy list. Create a happy list of your own, which may seem something like that; > Journaling / Writing> Going hiking/swimming (something that is not your regular regime)> Read a good novel> Cook yourself a good 3-course meal with your loved one> Enjoy quiet time alone at a cafe> Do Yoga> Bake a cake> Watch your all-time favourite movie that is heartwarming, inspiring or simply something you enjoy> Play music (e.g guitar, piano, etc)
Give yourself a chance to try and find your sparkle back
Give the above options a try if you are feeling directionless in life and have nothing to look forward to. You might find yourself picking up bits and pieces of happy little things that will spur smiles, hope and perhaps even happiness in you. Our time here is short. There may be times when we feel lost and frustrated, and we want to cut our unhappy moments short and extend our blissful moments longer. Only with a right mindset, can we change our perspectives and live with a higher purpose. Perhaps the events that you have experienced in life has caused you to feel exhausted and unwilling to try again. Yet, we won?t know what will happen if we persevere. The rainbows might just be a corner turn away.
Originally published at l3hub.org on August 18, 2017.
