janbear
06-20-2006, 05:28 PM
bluidkiti
Administrator
Age: 44
Joined: 01 Dec 2005
Posts: 7079
Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 6:39 am Post subject: How we live our days is how we live our lives
I love the quote from Annie Dillard, "How we live our days is how we live our lives." If our days are stressed, chaotic, unfocused and unsatisfying, at the end of the year (and at the end of life) we tend to look back and wonder, "What happened?" On the other hand, if we make sure each day contains some joy, some gratitude, a bit of organization and purpose, some honest work and a bit of fun, I'm convinced our lives will reflect the same.
While I may not know how to create a good life, I can (usually) create a good day, and if I can put a few thousand good days back-to-back, that may come close enough to a great life. So the question is not how to have a great life over 80 years, but how to have a few thousand good-enough days, back-to-back. Here are a few suggestions:
1. First, plan each day. Most of us do not put nearly enough time into deciding exactly how we want to live each day. We don't choose our priorities, affirm our values, or make hard choices about how we will - or will not - use our time.
2. Surround yourself with great people. There's an old proverb that says, "Show me the five people you spend the most time with, and I'll show you your future."
3. Write your biography in advance. We tend to live our lives according to whatever story we tell ourselves, so why not tell ourselves a GREAT story? Where are you going? What will your legacy be? Never stop reading and rewriting your own story.
4. Read and learn from the great people in history. Experience may be the best teacher, but it also charges the highest tuition. Life is short and we don't have time to make and recover from all the mistakes in life, so why not learn from the mistakes of others ... from some smart people who have already made the mistakes and gone ahead and left a trail for us to follow.
5. Share the dream. Tell your loved ones, your best friends, your trusted associates where you want to go in life so they can support you. Every sports team has cheerleaders and so should you.
written by Philip Humbert
_________________
AA gives us an opportunity to recreate ourselves, with God's help, one day at a time. --Rufus K.
"No matter what you have done up to this moment, you get 24 brand-new hours to spend every single day." --Brian Tracy
God says that each of us is worth loving.
We stay sober together - one day at a time!
Administrator
Age: 44
Joined: 01 Dec 2005
Posts: 7079
Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 6:39 am Post subject: How we live our days is how we live our lives
I love the quote from Annie Dillard, "How we live our days is how we live our lives." If our days are stressed, chaotic, unfocused and unsatisfying, at the end of the year (and at the end of life) we tend to look back and wonder, "What happened?" On the other hand, if we make sure each day contains some joy, some gratitude, a bit of organization and purpose, some honest work and a bit of fun, I'm convinced our lives will reflect the same.
While I may not know how to create a good life, I can (usually) create a good day, and if I can put a few thousand good days back-to-back, that may come close enough to a great life. So the question is not how to have a great life over 80 years, but how to have a few thousand good-enough days, back-to-back. Here are a few suggestions:
1. First, plan each day. Most of us do not put nearly enough time into deciding exactly how we want to live each day. We don't choose our priorities, affirm our values, or make hard choices about how we will - or will not - use our time.
2. Surround yourself with great people. There's an old proverb that says, "Show me the five people you spend the most time with, and I'll show you your future."
3. Write your biography in advance. We tend to live our lives according to whatever story we tell ourselves, so why not tell ourselves a GREAT story? Where are you going? What will your legacy be? Never stop reading and rewriting your own story.
4. Read and learn from the great people in history. Experience may be the best teacher, but it also charges the highest tuition. Life is short and we don't have time to make and recover from all the mistakes in life, so why not learn from the mistakes of others ... from some smart people who have already made the mistakes and gone ahead and left a trail for us to follow.
5. Share the dream. Tell your loved ones, your best friends, your trusted associates where you want to go in life so they can support you. Every sports team has cheerleaders and so should you.
written by Philip Humbert
_________________
AA gives us an opportunity to recreate ourselves, with God's help, one day at a time. --Rufus K.
"No matter what you have done up to this moment, you get 24 brand-new hours to spend every single day." --Brian Tracy
God says that each of us is worth loving.
We stay sober together - one day at a time!