“To change one’s life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions.”
William James
Have you ever noticed that we generally tend to live, as the cartoon suggests, as if trapped in a loop?
Like Groundhog Day, it’s as though we’re living the same day, or same few days, over and over again.
I sometimes wonder if the enormous scale of human dysfunction might actually stem from a case of chronic boredom.
We’re creatures of habit, yes.
That’s generally how society functions. We each have our roles to play and our allotted duties and responsibilities. We get out of bed in the morning, clean our teeth, eat breakfast and trot off to work or school.
That needn’t be a problem in itself.
We gotta do what we gotta do. That’s the way life works.
But, here’s the thing:
We can do what we need to while still making every day fresh, adventurous and enjoyable.
Too many people end up living life solely as a conditioned reflex. That’s something you should fight tooth and nail to avoid.
Why?
Because to do so is to become a robotic zombie.
It’s a sure way to lose every remaining ounce of the joy and spontaneity you experienced as a young child.
Back then, you were still in touch with your essential nature.
This joie de vive didn’t have to be manufactured. It was part of your nature — to live in wonder, to explore, to be filled joy, and to have fun.
Society is a machine. We’re raised and conditioned to become rather like machines ourselves; perfect cogs in the wheel of society.
But we’re not machines!
Many of us have exceptionally well-constructed social selves. The social self the facade we present to the world. It’s how we want others to perceive us. Alas, the social self is like a wall we build around our own heart. In the process, we lose touch with our own essential nature.
It’s no wonder we get so bored, anxious and depressed.
The question is, is it possible to shake things up? Can we live with greater spontaneity and freshness without letting our lives go to pot?
The answer, I believe, is a resounding yes!
We can all find ways to make life more fun and exciting.
Here are five suggestions.
Perhaps they’ll spark some of your own ideas. What will it take to break the norm of robotic, reflex-living? How can you find greater variety, meaning and authenticity in your life?
1. Remember what you loved as a child.
You were never more ‘yourself’ than when you were a young child.
Back then, you’d yet to slap on the mask of your social self. You didn’t care what ‘the world’ thought about you or wanted of you. You were too busy immersed in the wonder of the world!
You were an unconstrained expression of consciousness, with your own set of natural tendencies, interests, and proclivities (now there’s a word I don’t get to use often).
It can be fun to look back at what brought you joy when you were a kid. Joy is a sure sign that something is aligned with your essential self.
This doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to go out and throw water balloons at passing strangers (I assume). Or live in a treehouse at the bottom of your garden (although that could be kinda cool).
But you might find ways you can get back to your natural sense of fun, adventure and playfulness.
I mean, why not take the afternoon to build sandcastles on the beach, or watch cartoons, or go for a bike ride somewhere cool? Or play a game. Or eat gobstoppers or penny sweets. Or do anything that might have appealed to your younger self.
Allow yourself to recapture that lost sense of fun and joy.
2. Do something — anything — different!
Take some baby steps out of your habitual comfort zone.
Wear clothes you normally wouldn’t wear. A purple shirt. A polka dot skirt! Why the heck not?
Instead of eating and drinking the same old things, try something new.
Walk a different route to work or school.
Visit somewhere you’ve never been before.
Go to a library and get out the kind of book you’d never usually read, just out of curiosity.
Listen to a different style of music.
Make music!
Get talking with someone new, or a friend you don’t normally spend much time with.
3. Ditch unhelpful habits
Let’s face it, we all have certain habits that don’t really serve us.
Be honest and commit to temporarily — or, if you’re so inclined, permanently — ditching them.
Why not watch less TV? Or no TV! We’re weren’t put on this planet and given this amazing life just to sit in front of a screen for hours at a time.
Take a break from social media.
Put down the laptop or smartphone and take a walk. Go exercise and see how your body feels after it.
Or maybe what you most need is to go lie down, rest, listen to some chilled music or meditate?
Stop hanging out with anyone who stresses, deadens you or brings your energy down.
Perhaps you might want to take a look at your dietary habits and quit eating as much sugar (as tempting as cake can be). Or, if you’re normally health conscious, why not allow yourself to be more indulgent? (Did someone mention cake?)
4. Change the way you look at the world (and watch the world change).
I’ve learned that one of the most important things we can ever do is to consider things from all angles.
Most of the time we tend to rigidly stick to our beliefs, opinions, and viewpoints. Confirmation bias filters our experience of life. We unconsciously measure everything in terms of what we already believe is true.
But this is not the mark of a great mind.
It’s lazy, reflex-living at its worst.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote,
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”
Be willing and open to changing your mind about things.
Yeah, it can be disconcerting at first, because the mind likes to think it’s right all the time. But setting aside fixed certainties is also tremendously liberating.
If nothing else, it reopens your mind to the sheer wonder of life.
5. Remember your dreams.
We all have dreams.
Generally, we tend to set them aside as we grow up and get on with the business of living.
But I’m willing to bet there’s something inside you — a spark or a fire that was never truly extinguished.
It’s time to recover that flame and bask in its warm glow.
We’re at the start of a new year. What better time to explore the dreams you have for yourself and your life? Some may be impractical. Some may be frivolous. But I assure you, there’s a vision within you that resonates with your highest and best destiny.
Sometimes the best way to shake up your life is to find ways to explore your dream and incorporate it, or elements of it, into your life.
In the words of Nikos Kazantzakis:
“You have your brush. You have your colors. You paint paradise, then in you go.”
Even the busiest of people can find ways to vary their routine and shake up their lives. Once you make the commitment to incorporate more fun into your life, you’ll discover more and more ways of reigniting your spark. The result? A life of greater happiness, wonder and freshness.
Happy 2018!
