…It’s only awkward if you make it awkward by hesitating, holding back, and only going halfway in.
…Going all-in is the sure fire, fool-proof way to making it 100% the opposite of awkward—regardless of who you are, how you sound, what you look like, or how you move.
All-in is the secret ingredient to fulfilled experiences in life.
There is no insignificant moment.
There is no moment unworthy of your attention.
There is no space during your waking hours when the moments don’t count.
But this also doesn’t mean that every moment of your life needs to make it to your life’s highlight reel.
…When every moment is a highlight—no moment is a highlight.
All that’s required for a moment to be fulfilled is a complete and full attention.
With each moment comes an infinite array of things to soak in via our senses, things to process and act on, and directions we can choose to head.
The trick to not getting overwhelmed with this is not getting too far ahead while simultaneously not thinking too far behind.
The goal is to be whelmed with the infinity of the moment—and to deliberately subtract the “over” by being sufficiently submerged in the now.
Take it all in, y’all. Take none of it for granted. And take with you as many fulfilled moments as you can from this infinitely potential-ed day.
P.s. ICYMI, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.
“Just this morning. Over the past few weeks I’ve had a sudden onset of health things; insane poison parsnip huge blister on my foot, Basal skin cell cancer successfully removed from my temple twice, emergency root canal, two crowns on my teeth, and finally this morning (and last night’s prep for) a colonoscopy. ‘You’re falling apart,’ was the comment from my younger workmate. ‘We’ve a lot to be grateful for,’ was the comment from my mother in law. Why is that an accomplishment? At 30 you start to feel aches and pains. At 40 you realize you have to fight just to not atrophy. And a 50 you keep at it and kind of just cross your fingers that you’ve sufficiently shifted the bell curve of health fortune in your favour.”
Peter A.B. Marshall
Sheesh. What a mindset shift.
From “I’m falling apart…” to “I have so much to be grateful for” in a single comment.
Because what is “falling apart,” but a couldn’t-be-more-real-statement of what it means to be alive.
Life is always moving towards chaos; towards disorder; towards ‘falling apart’—it’s the Second Law of Thermodynamics. And while this may be wildly frustrating and messy… it’s a reminder of one thing that couldn’t be more comforting and clear: that we’re alive.
…And what a wildly humbling and beautiful gift that is.
I finished paying my car off last month.
This is my first month without a car payment in years.
And, like clockwork, I downloaded the cars app and started browsing new cars.
I don’t need a new car. I’m in an excellent position with my current car. It’s an excellent brand in excellent condition and is expected to continue running excellently for years and years to come.
…And yet, I still had that urge to search for upgrades.
To get something newer, with fewer miles, that’s all electric…
Something that might not even cost me that much if I get a good enough price for my car and a good enough deal on a new one…
…Isn’t it interesting how that works?
How excited and thrilled and fully satisfied we feel at the outset…
And then how all of a sudden, once we own that thing or have used it for a while, something changes inside…
Because it isn’t the thing that changes—not really at least.
It’s something else that changes that’s actually completely within our control…
And that thing is… our perspective.
And my current thought to myself is, if I can do some inner work to change my perspective back… to appreciate my car like it was my first month with it once again, it’ll be as though I’m taking out a whole new lease on my car—without taking on any kind of new lease at all (which is my favorite kind of lease).
…Which is how it works for taking out a whole new lease on life, too.
…I got this question emailed to me a few days ago and I’ve been thinking about it on and off ever since.
I can tell you that I feel a general sense of accomplishment at the end of most of my days. I’ll usually have exercised, published one of these short articles, taught some martial arts classes, interacted with great people, and have read a little bit before bed… give or take.
…But, a deep sense of accomplishment?
At least for me, this doesn’t really come from the daily grind tasks… it comes from things that required more from me than I was used to giving. And as I reflected on it, the realization was that the more the thing required, the deeper the accompanying sense of accomplishment.
Which makes sense.
…And brings about an important realization for living life: if we want to feel a deep sense of accomplishment, we must do hard things. Things that require more from us than we’re used to giving… not all of the time (burnout city)… but certainly some of the time.
Because those occasional deep pushes become life highlight reels that you quickly share with people when they’re wondering about your life—when you’re wondering about your life.
And so when was it for you?
…When’s the last time you felt a deep sense of accomplishment?
And how can you get more of that from your life?
When you get particularly comfortable—be it at home or with a certain group of people or in a specific setting—you’re going to want to stay there.
When you get particularly good at something—be it getting good grades at school, playing a sport, expressing yourself via a craft or activity, doing a job, laddering yourself up in a career—you’re going to want to double down on that thing.
When you settle into a particular lifestyle—be it how you eat, how you move, how you screen time, how you socialize, how you spend, or how you destress—you’re going to want to replay it again each day.
And while hanging around a certain group of people or doubling down on a skill you’re good at or settling into a specific dietary routine isn’t a bad thing—and there are certainly cases where it can be an excellent thing—today’s reminder is one of living a multi-dimensional lifestyle.
Spending too much of your life where you’re comfortable leads to complacency and denies growth opportunities.
Doing only what you’re good at prevents you from exploring other possible skillsets and practicing the art of being a humble beginner.
Living life the same way every day leads to narrow-mindedness, lack of experiential learning, and missed moments of serendipity via spontaneity.
Aim to live a multi-dimensional life.
A life that’s comfortable, but challenges you in fresh ways each day.
A life that’s centered around your strengths, but keeps you humbly dabbling in your weaknesses.
A life that’s grounded in routine, but sprinkles in spontaneous moments.
A life built from a solid foundation that branches outward in curious ways.
It’s okay to be tired at the end of a long day.
No need to complain about it.
Being tired is probably a good indicator that you worked hard, got a lot done, made some necessary mistakes, had some good conversations, built a few connections, engaged in new experiences, learned a bunch, etc…
All reasons to feel proud of a tired that was earned.
What’s not okay, is being tired at the end of a long day… and feeling like you have nothing to show for it… nothing to feel proud of… nothing learned, grown from, or adjusted to on your path.
Which isn’t to say you have to spend your day any certain kind of way.
It’s simply to say, act in ways that align with your “proud”—whatever that is.
Earn your tired. Don’t complain about it.
And let your ritual at the end of the day be about appreciation… towards yourself, your life energy, your opportunities, your interactions, your perception, your lessons, your actions… let yourself drift into a wonderful sleep with gratitude towards the fact that you get to engage in life.
Something many others would kill to be able to do.
P.s. My websites were down for the last 72 hours. Now, they’re back up and running. I apologize if this caused any inconveniences. This was my post from Monday, July 8th.