What Does Your Future Look Like?

Do you find yourself thinking about all the things you want to do and if and when you’ll do them? I certainly do. Maybe it’s because I’m at the age where I want to deepen my experiences in life. I want to fully live my life. But that’s not saying that we should be thinking ahead too much. Staying present is important and keeps us from missing those things that are happening right now that will be gone forever if we’re not fully aware — but, it’s never too late to act upon our feelings and live our lives the way we want to — making sure that we leave this realm feeling grateful and satisfied for the choices we made.

Writing my bucket list is the first step toward making change. I can look at each topic and picture how that would look for me. What do I need to do to live mindfully? While I can think about this, I know I need to meditate each day to stop the internal chatter somewhat and become more aware of the way I interact with the world. Speaking my truth has always been a challenge for me. Yup! — I was the ultimate people pleaser! And, while I still like to make people happy, I am much more aware of MY needs and am learning the power of saying, “No.” It’s an ongoing work in progress, but I am certainly building that muscle.

Making changes, however small, can be challenging. For me, I need to write them down and then make sure I look at them! Then I see these things happening in my life. If it’s a self-care excursion, I see the place I want to spend time in and imagine myself there. To meet a shaman, I see myself traveling to Peru and spending time in nature and being very vulnerable — but excited and ready to experience something quite different from the way I have been living my life. A few years ago, I wanted a certain Pilates reformer that was fairly expensive. My old self would have said, “There’s no way you’ll ever have that,” “It’s way too costly.” The me today pictured myself buying it, putting it in a specific room in my house, saw myself working out on it, etc. Today, that Pilates reformer is in my fitness room (what used to be a dining room!). So, I’ve learned that whatever it is you desire, start imagining that you already have it. Where your thoughts go, energy flows. I guess it’s similar to the “law of attraction.”

Being in a secure and safe place has always been important to me. The fears I’ve lived with prevented me from exploring some of my wildest dreams. And, that was okay.. it was what worked for me. At this point in my life, staying safe is not as important as it once was. Going outside my comfort zone feels like something I not only want to do but need to do in order to fully live the life I desire.

So whether it’s taking your love life to a whole new level, traveling to an exotic place you feel driven to go, learning a new craft, following your desire to do something you never thought you would do…. I say, begin to bring these things into your life. Don’t wait until it’s too late to take action — do the things you really want to do NOW. Now is all we have.

To a wonderful journey….

-C