We Have an Expiration Date People!

“1 Million people did not wake up this morning but, you and me, we woke up so we should smile.  If everyone you love woke up this morning, smile because if 1 million people died last night at least 10 million people lost someone dear to them….” Saghguru

Many people go through life as if they were immortal; they do things they do not enjoy and put off, until tomorrow, the things that they really want to do but without knowing  for sure that tomorrow will actually arrive. Everyone has some responsibilities and not every day will be perfect but if we remember that we do have an expiration date we are more likely to include pleasure and fun in our lives. If we truly accept that one day we will die we will do all the things that make our hearts happy. If you have an unfulfilled passion what are you waiting for? Are you an accountant but you have a secret desire to become an artist? Are you an artist and would love nothing more than to be an accountant? What is stopping you?

For most people, the only things that stops them from living the life that they truly want are, on one side, fear and on the other the non-acceptance that life is short. There is nothing we can do about death – he will come at some point whatever we do but we can do something about fear. The first and the simplest way is to deal with the physical manifestations of fear; the fluttering in your stomach, the shortness of breath etc. If you are not faced with your fear at the time you have these feelings, if you are afraid of flying and are thinking about a forthcoming flight for example, change the image that you have in your mind.

If you went to the cinema and saw a really bad movie you wouldn’t do back and watch it again and again so why play negative thoughts over and over in your mind? To use the fear of flying example – don’t visualise yourself sweating and digging your finger nails into the arm rests, visualise yourself chatting and smiling with the person sitting next to you. If you feel the familiar fluttering in your stomach, remind your brain that you only have that feeling because you are excited and looking forward to the experience. If you hear the words in your head ‘I’m scared of flying’, change them to ‘I’m a little apprehensive but I know I will enjoy the experience’. In many ways the mind is quite accommodating, if you tell it that you ‘know’ something or you are ‘certain’ of something, it will take you at your word so, if you say ‘I know I will be scared on that plane’ you are 100% right, no question, you will be scared. Instead say ‘I am certain that I will have no fear on this flight’. Try it, with anything you are afraid of, you have more control over your life than you may think.

As we get older our existing fears often get worse and we find new ones to worry about – why? Maybe we think that we are less physically capable than we were when we were younger but that’s only a question of perception and perseverance. Again, if we listen to the mind telling us that we cannot do something, it’s as damn sure as mustard that we won’t be able to do it; if we tell the mind that we can who knows what we will be capable of. Do you think that any of these people told themselves that they couldn’t do it or that they we afraid to try?

Stop telling yourself you can’t, stop allowing fear to rule your life and realise that it won’t last forever. No-one wants their last words to be ‘I wish I had…..’