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Ashley Meira

15 Ways to Live Your Life to the Fullest

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Do you want to live your life to the fullest, but haven’t quite figured out how to do that yet? Don’t worry! You aredefinitely not alone. In fact, that is one of the saddest things in life to me: that most people will live their whole liveswithout fully experiencing what it all has to offer.

There are almost always going to be forces outside of our control that we feel prevent us doing what we want, andwhile that is true, a great deal of what holds us back is us. Our minds are our own mini prisons filled with negativethoughts, fear, and uncertainties. These will never truly go away, they are part of what makes us human, but oncewe know what is holding us back, we can work more actively towards enjoying the full potential of what life has tooffer.

I’m sure you’ve heard/read some of these before tips. Some will click with you instantly and some you might thinkare a bit wonky, some you might feel inspired by and find yourself doing over time without even realizing it! Othersyou may never do or spend your life trying to achieve.

All of that is fine.

Life is a journey of constant change, it’s a wave that will carry us whether we likeit or not. It’s up to us to decide how we will ride that wave: will we struggle andfuss in unhappiness or will we go with the tide and enjoy the trip?

Here are 15 ways to help you live your life to the fullest:

1. Don’t live for others

People will always have expectations of us. From our parents, to our partners, to our friends, to… well, anyone,really. Society itself has its rules on how people should live. Ignore that. Live the way that makes YOU happy.

2. Live for others

Wait, what? Yeah, I know what I typed for #1, and I meant it. You should 100% live your life the way that makesyou happy, but you should also 100% live a life that doesn’t hurt others. I’m not saying be overly conscious of thefeelings of every person around you, but practice consideration. If you don’t help others and spread the love,what’s the point of it all? We excel the most, when the people we love excel with us.

3. Complain less

Complaining is inevitable. We all complain and that’s okay. It helps to get those things out there. However, simplycomplaining about things will not fix them. So, you can spend all your time complaining, or you can work on waysto fix your problems.

4. Take care of your body

Ever heard the saying “The only thing you truly have is your body, so take care of it”? It’s so, so very true. Yourbody is what allows you to live in this world, it’s your connection to it. Without this squishy (or maybe not sosquishy) meat bicycle, we wouldn’t be able to navigate this world.

Drink lots of water, get a good night’s rest, add vegetables and fruits to your diet, and make sure to get some freshair when you can. These are all little things that will do you a world of good. We only have one body, so take careof it!

5. Live in the now, but plan for later

Stressing out over an unknown future will drive you to an early grave. Plan for your future: save as much as youcan, learn as much as you can, etc etc, but don’t let all that planning make you forget to enjoy your present. Enjoyyour life now as you work towards the life you want in the future.

6. Learn that pleasure and happiness aren’t the same thing

Shopping, alcohol, drugs, food, sex – any number of things come to mind when you are asked what makes youhappy. These things, however, are just quick fixes. Sure, they bring you joy, pleasure, even. Pleasure isimportant in life (trust me, I could never give up shopping, or cake!), but it’s not enough. Happiness is self-actualization, it’s finding a meaning for your life, no matter what that meaning is.

7. Understand that everyone changes…

One thing that all humans have in common is our mutability. We are constantly changing. We may not think weare, but I can guarantee you, the 25 year old you is/was/will be much different than the 16 year old you. I thinkback to 2 years ago and am amazed at how I am still the same and yet so different to the past me. If you feel heldback by a certain aspect of yourself, focus on how you can change it. It could be social awkwardness, laziness,

lack of drawing skill, or anything, really. Work on them instead of just saying “well, this is just how I am”. Put theeffort in.

8. …and that’s okay

Not everyone (you included) changes for the better. Some people become more negative, angrier, lazier, etc.Sometimes the people you used to be joined at the hip to in the past now seem like perfect strangers. That’s justlife, people will change; they don’t owe it to you to the stay the same. Change is the only certainty in life. Acceptthat some things will change and adapt to it.

9. Stop trying to please everyone

This can be very hard to do. I used to try to please everyone, so please take it from me: it won’t work. Someonewill always have a problem with what you are doing. You can’t please everyone, and you probably never will.Spending your life trying to please everyone is a guarantee that you won’t be able to do anything great.

10. Focus on what you can control

Some things are out of our control. For example, the weather. Now, if it rains, there’s nothing we can do aboutthat; we can’t make the rain stop just because it’s bother us. What we can do is carry an umbrella or maybe havea day in instead of going out. This can apply to anything out of our control. Some things we just can’t change, soinstead of wasting you’re energy focusing on that, think about what you can do to handle what is happening.

11. Realize it’s okay to fail and that it doesn’t define you.

You may not want to hear this, but failure is inevitable. You will fail at at least one thing in your life, and that’s okay.We are not defined by our failures. Some of the most successful people in the world started at the bottom, afterseveral failures, and they ended up on top in the end.

There is only one way to avoid failing, and that’s by not tryinganything at all. It’s like when we learned to walk or ride a bike:we had to fall a few times before we finally got it right.

12. Smile

SMILE. Seriously. Life can really get us down sometimes,and I know that there are times when smiling is literally thelast thing I want to even consider doing, but it’s so important.Just take a minute of your time to smile. Put on a song youlike or think of something that makes you happy andjust smile. It really does help.

13. Make time for what you love

In this day and age, most of us are constantly running arounddoing something. It can be hard to have free time. I’ve nevermet a person who has never said “I wish I had more free time” or “I’m to busy to do this or that”. What we don’trealize is that we are generally the ones putting ourselves in those situations. If you feel you don’t have time forsomething then think about it: is there something you’re doing now that you can replace with what you want to do?Is there any time you can take in your day to this thing? If you aren’t trying to actually fit this into your life, thenwhy are you complaining?

14. Create a positive environment/Like attracts like

“Like attracts like” is a pretty common saying. Another common saying is “we are the sum of our parts”. Thisapplies to your social life, too. People who spend time together end up acting like each other. For example, if yousurround yourself with negative people who complain all the time, you will probably pick up the habit from themand complain and be negative yourself. If your circle of friends is filled with lazy people, you are less likely to want

to do anything ambitious. The same applies to positive things. Surround yourself with driven people to achieveyour goals. Want to be an artist? Meet other artists, inspire each other.

15. Learn to take constructive criticism

Note that constructive is underlined for a reason. It can be hard to tell sometimes, if someone is saying somethingto attack you, and people generally tend to react to all criticism quite defensively. That makes sense; noone enjoys being criticized, but it’s important to realize that we aren’t perfect. Sometimes it takes an outside voiceto help us see that we haven’t been doing something correctly or that there is a better way to do achieve ourgoals. Try to be more accepting of people’s ideas (but always defer to your own judgement as well), it will help yougrow.

Want to know more about me? Check out my About Me page for the whole story! Honestly, I’m just an ordinaryperson, one of almost 8 billion on this planet, trying to make a living in a way that will allow me to live the life Iwant without spending all my time working to afford it. I’ve worked hard and found a simple way to be able tomake enough money to live how I want. I can travel whenever and wherever I want, I have a wonderful boyfriendto spend time with, and I’m pretty happy with how my life is going :) That’s good enough for me.

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