Slip Sliding Away

Time...slip sliding away. Time is precious. We do not know how much time we have here to live our lives, to love our families, to achieve our goals. This is part of what makes it so precious.

Often we hear inspiring stories about survivors of a natural disaster or a plane crash or even cancer. Many seem to look at life in a different way when they have a close brush with death. They begin to see what is truly important in their lives. They begin to appreciate the small, simple things in their lives. They strive to laugh more, love more and spend more time, energy and money on what really matters.

It is a real tragedy that we don't appreciate what we have until we come close to losing it or actually lose it. One thing I know for sure is that this life we have is impermanent. The person you read about in the newspaper today who died in a car wreck did not expect it. They were out Christmas shopping or taking the kids to school. They thought they had many more years to live, to improve their lives, to get what they wanted. Life is precious and the end is often sooner than we wish. Regardless of your beliefs about the afterlife, this life is yours right now. It can be happy and fulfilling or it can be miserable and bleak. Truthfully, the choice is yours.

We all blame our circumstances for our happiness or lack of it. But the truth is you can be happy right now no matter what your situation. Simply by choosing to be. We do live, as the saying goes, as if this was a dress rehearsal rather than the real thing. We put off things we know would improve our lives. We postpone actions we know will change our lives because we are waiting for the perfect time or the perfect circumstance. Sometimes this is because of fear or lack of self-confidence. But the only way to make change is to act. One of my clients asked me recently, what is the fastest way to get unstuck. The truth is the easiest way is to move, to act, to take one small step in any direction right now. One step leads to another and another. Before you know it, you're not stuck any more.

I have very wealthy clients and clients on the financial edge. Both can be extremely happy with their finances and both can be miserable. Often the problems are exactly the same, just one of scale. Because the money issue is not about money, but about our own connections, interpretations, beliefs, values and actions. The same can be true of almost any area that typically "causes" unhappiness. We tend to think that when we have (money, love, children, career, home, etc.), we will be happy. But when you get (money, love, children, career, home, etc.), it is replaced with something else (money, love, children, career, home, etc.) as a source for your happiness. We, as humans, never seem to be satisfied. All this means is that happiness cannot be gained by things outside yourself. Happiness comes from within, always. Any thing else is temporary, soon lost on the next wave of desire.

If you feel complacent about your life or feel stuck, here are a few questions to get you motivated.

1. If you were to die tomorrow, what three things would you regret the most, both things you have done and wish you hadn't and things you did not do, but wish you had?

2. If money were no object, what would you wish for the most?

3. If there were no one to judge you, what would you differently with your life?

4. If you had only two more years to live, how would you spend your time?

5. What were your dreams when you were young? Do these things still light you up?

6. What area of your life are you most stuck in? What is one small step that you can do right now to get moving again?

One of my favorite sayings is "Life is short and getting shorter!" Do one thing for yourself today to make your life happier and more satisfying. After all, life is short and getting shorter.

To see the short movie, One More Hour, go here...http://www.inspirationalentertainment.com/1morehr/


All content copyrighted, 2006, Life Unfolds and Mary Anne Fields. All rights reserved.