If you have never heard of the term ‘living my best life’ then allow me to introduce you to the term. I’m a big fan of using current trending phrases or words to title my pieces. Mostly because its quick to capture the reader’s attention but also because I love using terms made popular by social media as they are relatable to real life situations. When someone says living your best life obviously the first thing that comes to mind is living your life to its fullest potential.
Unfortunately, the world we live in is not as simple as the ones our parents grew up in where happiness and contentment were things that people took for granted. So, most of the time the first thing that comes to mind when this term is thrown out there is ‘how in the era where life can seem so unfulfilling and depressing can one really live their best life?’
I recently did a piece on living for you which can be intertwined with the whole concept of living your best life. Part of the piece highlighted the fact that when we focus on others, we are not living our own life. This can also be said for living your best life. Too often we use the accomplishments of others as a measure for the quality of life that we have and this in itself is RIDICULOUS!! We are never going to live the exact same life as someone else or even have what they have. The sad thing is sometimes the things that these ‘admired people’ have we may not even enjoy.
If you don’t wake up every day and do something that ‘you’ want to do or have always wanted to do or even something that you genuinely enjoy …then you are not living your best life. A lot of the time we are the ones who get in our own way, we do the opposite of or sometimes don’t do things that are going to make us genuinely happy simply because it is not ‘trendy’ or ‘popular’ or just because we are lazy. Thomas Oppong the founder of Alltopstartups said it in a way that sums it up perfectly;
‘At some point in life, you should be done worrying about what others think about you and focus on the things you deeply care about. You don’t need permission or approval to be your authentic self… The key to the good life you really need is giving a damn about what’s important to your growth, career, and total well-being.’
And that’s just it that’s the secret to living your best life…it’s being authentically yourself with no reservations or hesitations. It’s doing the things that you want to do and that makes you happy. Life is short, we see this every day and honestly, every day that we don’t appreciate our blessings no matter how small or take advantage of what we have is a day that you are not living your best part.
The main part of living your best life is LIVING…stop putting of things or finding excuses and live life to the fullest every day that you are blessed with it.
The KSChronicles are the observations and insights of blogger and journalist Kerdisha St.Louis. Each article seeks to invoke a reaction and/or introspection from readers in Dominica and the Diaspora on various thought-provoking issues and topics. The column is published twice a month.
Very thoughtful Indeed. Good to see such maturity in our youth.
The wonderful thing about living a full life and, by extension, a creative life, is that you gain confidence in your own convictions.
As a painter and sculptor I am now attempting subjects that I dared not contemplate in my youth: not from the lack of ability but from the fear of being criticised.
Once upon a time we did live to the fullest. We were our authentic selves. That’s when we were children, very young children. We had no care or worries we just acted how we wanted. Then came social conditioning & by the time we are 10 we are a shadow of that authentic self. If you ever get the chance to review videos or pictures of your young self, or just observe young children you know, you will see it. When we reach 18, we have a right and responsibility to break that chain and rediscover our authentic selves with no apologies to those who may dislike. To each his own. Very thoughtful article Kerdisha.
Very true. At birth we have the creative potential of genius. By the time we reach 18, by conformity and peer pressure, we are reduced to less than 2% of that potential. Interestingly, the graph can take an upward swing in old age, because by then we could not give a damn what others think.