Monthly Musing – April 2018 – Living your best life

Big daughter’s mantra at the moment is “Live your best life”. It’s a good mantra and one that I am happy to adopt for myself, although I am less pleased when she whispers it into the dog’s ears and he thinks that means it’s OK for him to commandeer the sofa when he knows perfectly well that he’s not allowed on it.

What is it, then, your best life?  Is it the same for everyone? Is your best life the same as my best life? Do we all want the same things at the end of the day? Probably not, and it probably doesn’t matter either, as long as we all feel that we are able to live a true and fulfilling version of our lives. I think “living your best life” is about taking the time to look around and see if what you have really is what you want, and if it isn’t then why not?

I hear the words as a reminder to be grounded in the moment and grateful for what I can see in front of me, but someone else might see it as a bugle call to stop wasting time and buy that house or that car that they’ve always wanted, to speak to that person on the bus or in the office they’ve always quite fancied but never had the courage to talk to, or to change jobs to something that they’ve dreamed of instead of the one their family expected them to do. Living an expected life rather
than your own natural life can be the most unfulfilling thing in the world, and the unhappiness it can cause can be enormous.  For all of us, it’s a moment to remember that this actually our “best life” as we don’t have a spare to pull out of our back pocket if we don’t like way this one is going, so thinking that it will all be OK at some point in the future without making the changes we want now isn’t going to achieve anything.

So how about you?  Are you living your best life already?  When I stop to think about it, I think I am. I’ve got a house to live in, food to eat, money to buy more than just the essentials and a family to love who love me back. I am able to earn money doing what makes me happy, and I am free to make my own choices. I am privileged to be able to vote for what I think is right in a democratic society and if there’s something that I don’t like, I have the opportunity to get off my backside and try to do something about it. I am sure that there are more than a few people in the world who would love to be in the same position.

I’m glad that big daughter has found this mantra now, at her age. Although we’ve laughed about it (especially when the dog pretends that he has gone deaf so that he doesn’t have to get off the sofa), it has a serious side and I hope that she will continue to carry it with her into the future and to live her best life. It’s what we want for all our children, isn’t it?

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9 Responses

  1. Lyndle says:

    Great post, thank you!

  2. luluknitts says:

    Lovely post as always Christine. Having gone through a really rough couple of years my "living my best life" at the moment is just being so very grateful for each day and for everything in my life. It's only when you almost lose everything that you realise just how precious the "non money" stuff really is. I find joy in such simple things now, a beautiful Spring day, a smiling child, saying hello to someone on the street and getting a smile back. Life is good. xxx

  3. Anonymous says:

    I totally agree and try to remember when my health gets me down that I have a loving family, useful crafting, comfy home and sufficient income for basics. Also that we live in a democratic society where I can live my belief even if some politicians are bizarre, tho I think that might be a pensioner talking.

  4. Susan Rayner says:

    What a lovely musing and one to think about and discuss with my husband over the weekend! Our Border Terrier is on the same wavelength as your dog and is already living the very best life she can! Sofa included.

  5. Unknown says:

    This is truly thought provoking – I'm going to ponder on it today as I go about my gentle Sunday business. I love reading your musings 🙂
    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

  6. Unknown says:

    My life has got a bit too busy for comfort, lately, however I'm pleased to say that I found time to sit and turn the heel on my first sock yesterday, over a cup of tea. I read your clear, reassuring Sockalong instructions again; sat with your lovely clear photos on my iPad on my lap; and I had unpick and re-do the last three rows, when I finished with 19 stitches instead of 18. But I did it! You have my heartfelt thanks for giving me the confidence to try something I'd not felt able to do before.

  7. Julie says:

    An interesting subject for me to think ponder and think about, recently I have a changed a few things in my life that were no longer giving me happiness.
    Hope the dog has hopped off the sofa so you can relax and knit!

  8. Lorraine says:

    Very well said Christine. It made me stop and think as I read it on my birthday! – and yes I think my life is the best it can be at the present time, but who knows – stuff happens and it could get a whole lot better if I choose to let it.So I will take chances as they occur instead of putting it off till later.
    Lx

  9. Rachael says:

    I've made 4 pairs of the basic Sockalong. Happy Birthday!

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