“There are three things we cry for in life: things that are lost, things that are found, and things that are magnificent.”
- Douglas Coupland
This is what it means to be a human being. To feel overcome with emotion when we have to say goodbye, when we experience discovery, and when we look at the world and are struck by how amazing it is. When we cry for these things, we are truly alive.
Don’t be too proud to cry. Crying is good. Crying is healthy. Cry when the reason is right!
2. You Have to Participate
“There are no passengers on spaceship Earth. We are all crew.”
- Marshall Mcluhan
In life, you can’t just sit down and expect the rest of humanity to keep their eyes open for you. A life that is spent as a passenger, rather than someone contributing to making the world function, is a life wasted.
3. Dreams Are Good, But Living Is Just as Important
“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”
- J.K. Rowling
You have to have dreams as they’re what keeps you going when things look bleak. They’re what motivates and drives you to keep your feet firm and pace steady. However, spending too much time dreaming may lead you to forget to live in the now.
“We’re all just walking each other home.”
- Ram Dass
We have to look after one another. It’s so easy to forget to be human, and we unfortunately do it all the time. We hurt people. We ignore people. We betray people. This is certainly no way to live.
You have to attempt to reach out and touch the rest of the world. The best thing about this is that you can do it online, you don’t even have to leave your home. Find somebody, and walk them home.
5. Let Yourself Believe
“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape? If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can.”
- J.R.R. Tolkien
Fiction, wonder, and awe all have a place in this world. It’s not all about money and work. We need to stick our heads in the clouds for a few moments every day. After all, not every idea ever conceived has come from autobiographies and reports. A lot of fantastic ideas come from pure imagination, which is totally awesome. Don’t discount it, let yourself believe.
6. Don’t Overthink It
“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”
- Dr. Seuss
Most of the time, you don’t need to worry, stress, overthink, or analyze. You need to take one step at a time and let go of the bigger picture. It’s too complex to try to solve everything all at once, so what you really need to do is come up with the simplest answer for the simplest part of the problem.
Sometimes, the questions are complicated, but that’s only because we allow them to be, only because we don’t learn how to examine those questions at their smallest level.
“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”
- Isaac Asimov
Just because we can do things, doesn’t mean that we should. You need to think carefully about the consequences of your actions, and how they might hurt both yourself and others. You need to take a close look at the reasons you’ve chosen to drop a stone in the water, and try to understand what the ripples will be like.
8. Let the Days Come and Go
“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Some days are bad. Some days are awful. Some days you just want to hide away from the world. But these days don’t last forever, and they finish when you go to bed at night. Your problems obviously won’t go away overnight, but your stress and pain, well they could.
Don’t hold onto the bad. You have to let it go as quickly as you let go of the good things in life when you tire of them, or when the excitement of the moment slips away.
Source: medium
Images: depositphotos
