Weekly Reflection: This is how life is supposed to be lived.
I had a conversation with my mom while driving home from work on Friday night. After telling me about her day for a few minutes, she went on and made the mistake of asking me about my day. What she most likely assumed would be a very short and brief “It was a good day. You know, just the same old, same old.” turned into a fifteen minute rant about my love for life.
I simply couldn’t contain myself. Never in my life have I experienced that amount of happiness gratitude. Never! Even looking up at the sky and seeing the simple beauty of the clouds, I just thought to myself, “Wow, this right here, this is my life. And it is awesome”
The trees, the clouds, the buildings around me, everything just looked stunning to me. Almost like I had never seen those same buildings before in my life, when in all reality, I see them on a daily basis. I wish I was making that up, but it’s true. Everything just felt, right. And you want to know the best part? That feeling is how I am still feeling right now.
Looking back on my week, every single day was a good day. I honestly don’t recall one negative thing from this past week. Every day was filled with nothing but love for the life that I am living, and gratitude for everything and everyone around me.
It’s honestly so hard for me to explain, but it was like I was high for the entire week. Only, I wasn’t high on anything else but the sheer happiness for the fact that I am living the gift of life. I know that doesn’t really make a lot of sense, but this smile that has constantly been on my face, and the laughter that is inside of me just won’t go away. And let’s be real, I really don’t want it to either.
Six months ago when I first decided to make a change in my life, this was the feeling that I was searching for. I had this far fetched idea of living a happy life, but didn’t actually know what that meant. I never knew if I would actually learn to like myself, or if I would start to enjoy the life that I have, or if I would ever make any meaningful memories. But decision that I made six months ago to focus on changing my life, that turned out to be one of the best decisions that I have ever made in my entire life.
It is like I am a completely different person. That is simply the easiest way to put it. Not only do those closest to me feel that way, but I do as well. I actually love the life that I am living for a change, and am grateful to just be alive.
In the last six months, I have created more long lasting memories with friends and family than I had in the entire past six years combined. I have pushed myself out of my comfort zone, and challenged myself let go of control in my life. And most importantly, I have learned to believe in myself, and that I can achieve anything.
When you combine the feeling that I am experiencing right now; gratitude, humbleness, and self-belief, that is what happiness feels like. It is like everything in my life right now is in the perfect place, and that is because I worked hard to place it there. Yeah, it feels pretty damn good to be alive!
So, as we enter the new week, I want to challenge you. This week, I want you to just be yourself. Let go of what people think of you, forget about who you think you need to be, and forget about the negatives in life. Just focus on being the amazing person that you already are.
I realize that happiness feels different for everybody. But everybody deserves to know what happiness feels like. Take a chance on yourself, follow YOUR own dreams, and live the best life that you can possible live. Find what happiness means to you, and just live.
Michael Bonnell
11/12/2018
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