PASSION or BOREDOM?

Right off, I want to tell you to be sure to listen to the podcast HERE so that you can get even more thoughts and discussion on today's topic. Don't miss it!

I think most of you reading this would agree with what Vincent Van Gogh said in the graphic above: "I would rather die of passion than of boredom."

But what does that mean for you? What comes to mind when you think of living a life of "passion"? Does it mean to live a careless life or a carefree life? Does it mean to live a life without rules or a life where you make the rules? Does it mean that, if you don't "love" what you are doing then your life is not of value? Does it mean that your passion brings value to your life regardless of what you are doing?

Some are completely satisfied to live what I may consider to be a "boring life". I - and you - must be careful about judging someone in such a situation because they may be living the life that they have always wanted...even if it "looks" boring to you or me.

As I put this article together, I am 58 years old (YOUNG!) and I still believe that I am living a life of passion or, the way I like to look at it, a life of PURPOSE.

Simply put, for me that means that, regardless of what I'm doing (whether what I would prefer to be doing or not) I still have a passion - or a PURPOSE - in what I want and plan to achieve. I don't think I will ever be in a position to where I decide to be satisfied with less than I know I can be and do.

Make sense?

What about you? My biggest fear for myself - and for you - is to allow myself to get to a point where I "settle for less" because it is easier. THAT IS NOT PASSION!

Again, be sure to listen to the podcast and please, feel free to leave your comments on the fan page on Facebook (click the link below). I'd love to hear from you.

Until next time, whatever you do, always be sure to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

Future You University   FYU on Facebook!   Podcast on iTunes   Podcast RSS feed

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Regret NOTHING

To a large extent, one of the worse things a person can do is to have REGRETS when they come to the end of their life.

Now, to be honest, I'm not sure that it's possible to live life in such a way that we won't all have SOME regrets - I'm not sure that's even humanly possible. However, we CAN do all that we can to keep those down to as few as possible

And, yes, we CAN do that!

As you get ready to read this article (be sure to listen to the podcast on this as well by clicking on one of the links at the bottom of this article), I want to get you to do something first. Do NOT focus on the things that you have or haven't done in your past up to this point. As I talk about this topic in this article, I want you to approach this as starting with a "clean slate" at this very moment. Make sense? 

Hey listen, we cannot go back and undo what we have done in the past. Yes, we can try to live in such a way that may help heal relationships and "mend fences" that were harmed by our actions, but we cannot go back and relive them. So, START FRESH today and dedicate yourself to doing less that would bring regret into your life. 

I was watching a video the other day talking about this very thing. It stated something that I believe is true - it stated that most people, at the end of their life, don't have regrets concerning things that they did but, rather, they have regrets about things that they did NOT do.

Do you want to know how to avoid that from happening in your own life? Here ya' go....get ready...STOP talking about it and START doing it!

Oversimplified, right?

Seriously, what is it that you are waiting for? If you are waiting for the "perfect" time to do whatever it is that you want to do then, guess what? IT'S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN? Because, friend, that perfect time will NEVER come!

It's like when I hear a married couple say that they are going to wait until they can "afford it" before they have children. Uh, spoiler alert...that's never going to happen! ;)

I understand the thought behind such a statement and approach but it's the same approach that we make when planning on waiting before we actually DO things that we want to do in and for our life. 

Too many of us wait until something happens to where we find out that we have a short period of time left to live. Then it's "hurry up and get it done" before time runs out. 

Hey, listen, this article is for me, too!

So, again, the "cure" for this is to STOP TALKING and START DOING and to START DOING it TODAY!

Today. Now. Not later.

Now, just for fun, I want to share a couple of pictures with you of a couple of people (and, oh, there are many, many more that I could have shared) that made the bold decision to make a decision concerning living life with no regrets. The problem is that they did it with a tattoo and...well...take a look for yourself and enjoy the laugh.

Ironically, I'm sure there was plenty of R-E-G-R-E-T to go around on both of these, don't you?

Until next time, whatever you do, be sure to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

Future You University   FYU on Facebook!   Podcast on iTunes   Podcast RSS feed

Do NOT Let Life Escape You!

I ride a motorcycle. I LOVE riding my motorcycle and I often say that the time on my bike is my "therapy". No, I'm not making light of the intricacies of proper therapy but I'm simply stating that being on my bike is a way for me to "clear my head" and "let go" of the worries and/or frustrations of the day. 

I've even checked my blood pressure AFTER being on a ride and found that it was quite a bit lower than what my normal numbers read. Ahhhhhhhhh!

But, here's the thing, you can "fill in the blank" with that graphic above and put in whatever it is that you LOVE to do. You can also make it more personal by using the word "I" instead of "we". For example: "I _____________________ not to escape life, but for life not to escape me."

What would go in YOUR "blank"?

I often talk about the importance of TODAY and the fact that TODAY is all that we really have. There's no promise of tomorrow and you cannot relive or reclaim yesterday. LIFE is made up of individual days which means that each day - TODAY - makes up your life.

So, what is it that you CHOOSE to do today to make sure that LIFE doesn't "escape" you?

This doesn't mean that you have to jump out of an airplane in order to "experience" life. What it DOES mean is that you (just like me and everyone else) may just need to be reminded to make sure that you EXPERIENCE life as it unfolds around you!

If you have kids at home, don't miss out on them BEING at home. They grow way too fast and, before you know it, they will be gone and out of the house. Enjoy each day as it happens...one day at a time!

I'm sure you've heard the cautionary phrase,"Be careful what you wish for", right? Indeed, be careful, because it often comes true before you are actually ready for it to. 

This is not a long article but one that I hope will cause you think and take a look around you each and every day. Yes, sure, take advantage of those times that you get to do something out of the ordinary that you really love to do. But, at the same time, don't let the "ordinary life" pass you by without enjoying and living every moment of it before it vanishes.

You'll be glad you did!

One way to make that happen is to be sure to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

Future You University   FYU on Facebook!   Podcast on iTunes   Podcast RSS feed

Wish You Were...Where?

 

Do you still make a wish and blow out the candles on your birthday cake?

 

What? You don't celebrate your birthday with a cake?

 

What's that again? You don't even CELEBRATE your birthday?

 

How does that happen? I don't know but it happens with a lot of people from what I've seen.

 

"Cake? Candles? Wishes? Bah-Humbug!" (Does 'Bah-Humbug' still apply even though it's not the Christmas season?)

 

Friend, even though I'm sharing information about the new travel business that my wife and I have started, THIS IS ALSO ABOUT LIVING AND CELEBRATING LIFE!

 

We talked about it yesterday so, yeah, if you haven't read that article yet, you DO need to go back and do that...as well as listen to the podcast (links to both iTunes and RSS feed at the bottom).

 

Too many people have just given up on enjoying life and seeing their dreams become a reality. You know it and I know it. Hopefully that does not describe you but, hey, let's get real here - even people like "us" have allowed some things to just pass us by, right?

 

I'm too old, I'm too young, I don't have enough money, I don't have enough time.

 

Excuses.

 

Excuses that will lead you down a road of regret and disappointment. You don't believe me? Friend, if you have children, take a good long look at them and ask yourself where the time has gone.

 

ESPECIALLY if they are already "out of the house" but even if they are still at home with you and growing every day right before your very eyes.

 

The longer you wait to get back to enjoying your life and making those memories the sooner the time will come that you will wish that you had.

 

That's just the way it works.

 

Take the time to check out our page on Facebook (link at the bottom) and consider how you - yes YOU - can actually afford to make some of those life-long memories NOW instead of living a life void of those memories.

 

Hey, even if you don't do that, WAKE UP and realize that time is passing us all by and it is up to each and every one of us to make the most of it.

 

Even if it's NOT your birthday, don't wait for your next one to make a cake or even buy a cake and put at LEAST one candle on top of it and make a wish.

 

WHY NOT? I can just about promise that you'll smile and that you'll be glad that you did.

 

And if someone asks you for the occasion? Tell them that the occasion is LIFE!

 

Enjoy every moment, friend, enjoy every moment. And, as you do so, always be sure to...

 

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

 

Mike

 

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  *MJ Spillman Travel on Facebook*    *TRAVEL FOR LESS and ENJOY LIFE MORE!*

Ordinary or EXTRAordinary?

I actually was looking up the definition of the word, "extraordinary" on dictionary.com to share with you in today's blog but then I thought, "You know what? Just point out the obvious!"

 

And the obvious definition is simply this: NOT ORDINARY or MORE than ordinary!

 

Here's something else to consider: many will have a different definition of what it is to be EXTRAordinary simply due to the fact that "ordinary" is lived, shown, defined in different ways based on the surroundings.

 

For example, if you make $200,000 a year and you find yourself among multi-millionaires, you will find it hard to be considered "extraordinary" financially. However, in a group of most "average" and, yes, "ordinary" salaried employees, you may very well be looked at as financially "extraordinary".

 

You've heard it said many times before that we tend to "fit in" along the lines of our 5 or 10 closest acquaintances. This is true financially but it is also true in the way that we live life. Those 5 or 10 people will highly influence the way that we look at what it means to "play it safe" or take a risk and step out. Your way of thinking in what it means to just "fit in" and not "rock the boat" with thoughts and ideas is highly molded by those that you are closest to.

 

What do YOU want?

 

How do YOU want to live?

 

What is the "norm" in your situation? What is ordinary?

 

Many settle for going to work, coming home, sitting in front of the television until time to go to bed and then getting up in the morning and doing the exact same thing all over again. Day in and day out.

 

I guess I'm kind of "tip-toeing" around on this one because I know a lot of people that are very happy in their lives. I'm not talking about those that I described in the preceding paragraph, but others that find ways to make their lives MORE than just sitting in front of a television set.

 

So, in their own way, they have chosen to live an extraordinary life!

 

How do they do what they do? Perhaps they make an extra effort to earn more or maybe they just save more. Whatever it is, they have found a way to add a little something EXTRA to their lives to keep it from being mundane and ordinary!

 

It doesn't have to be going on an "around-the-world" trip or a two month cruise.

 

It may be stepping out and starting a new business from home OR it may be stepping out and learning a new hobby or planning a trip to somewhere that you have never been before.

 

I don't know but YOU can figure it out based on your own life and where you are.

 

This can be the fun part BEFORE the fun part - planning to do something out of the ordinary for you...something EXTRAordinary!

 

Why live life any other way?

 

Don't wait for others to do it for you. Instead...

 

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

 

Mike

 

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