Read if You Seek Abundance

My two greatest fears in life are:

1) Dying young before I have the chance to do half the things I want to do in this life.

2) Dying of old age and realizing I didn’t do half the things I wanted to do in this life.

The time we get to exist on this Earth lies on a pretty short timeline and to make matters worse, we can’t see where it ends until it happens in real-time.

The good news is that we have a whole lot of influence over how much life we live in that time span, no matter how long it may be.

Somewhere in the world, somebody reaches the end of their timeline after 70 years and wishes for more time or to go back and do it over again. Elsewhere, somebody reaches the end of their timeline of just 30 years and basks in the memories of the life they lived. They feel the pang of the years and phases of life they won’t get to live, absolutely, but they rest easy knowing they experienced as much life as they possibly could have in the time they had.

When you reach the end of your timeline, would you rather be overwhelmed with regret for everything you didn’t do, or flooded with all of the wonderful memories you made?

In case you choose the latter, I came up with just a few ways you can ensure abundance in your lifetime.

How to Realize Your Aspirations in the First Place

Our minds are pretty funny things. They ramble incessantly and come up with some outlandish ideas and conclusions.

Despite the absurdities and annoyances, don’t fall into a habit of ignoring your thoughts or trying to turn them off. Because sometimes, even if just once in a while, your mind sneaks some breakthroughs in there and you won’t want to miss it.

If you listen closely and look at it all in the right light- wonderful, attainable ideas and endeavors can be discovered right in your own mind.

Sometimes it’s clearly laid out; your mind knows what it wants and has a few ideas on how to get there. But other times, it’s not so obvious. It might come through in a quick passing thought or be hidden in the meaning of a daydream. Every situation you navigate and glorious moment you live gives you a piece of inspiration as to what you want out of this life. When you feel this insight come through, don’t disregard it.

With a bit of patience, the pieces will start to come together until it makes sense. When this happens, when great new dreams and desires become known to you, hold onto them.

If it seems you just had an epiphany about how your life should go- write it down, sit with it a while.

If it feels like your brain just used its dreaming energy to come up with the stupidest idea you have ever heard- write it down, sit with it a while.

Passing thoughts are, well, passing thoughts. Maybe you’ll think of it again later, but you can’t count on it. So when a potentially good one runs by, write it down, just in case you find it to be absolutely brilliant later on.

There’s No Pressure, Just Millions of Possibilities

Some people work better under pressure. I don’t know about you, but I sure do not. So for me, thinking things like, “I have no idea how much time I have left so I need to live as much as I possibly can now,” does more harm than good. I start panicking and impulsively making poor choices in an attempt to live as much life as I can.

So instead of viewing it as something to stress over, I look at the prospect of my one life here on Earth as a possibility, a million possibilities actually, to stuff as much life in as possible.

Those possibilities are ready and waiting for you every morning when you wake up. Even when it’s not outright obvious, the choices you’re presented with on any given day come with options to make something beautiful out of your life.

When you’re passing time on your phone, you have the option to be present instead.

When it feels like your world is falling apart, you have the option to take a long walk and let the world remind you it’s not.

When you’re dragging yourself to the gym, you have the option to use that time to discover the activity you will actually love; be it swimming, rock climbing, or a bike ride without a destination- just to name a few.

When you’re going through the motions of your day, you have options everywhere to find novelty and excitement. Maybe you can take your lunch outside, replace your social media time with a new book, or take 15 minutes to try out a new hobby (you can do so much with just 15 minutes of your time).

Every day, you have the opportunity to do literally whatever you want. Make good use of that power.

Of course, there is also a list of limitations that come with every day; between the state of your health, the responsibilities to fulfill, and the expectations you’re supposed to meet. But even within those parameters, there is room for you to move, inch by inch, toward every great dream you have. Again, just 15 minutes really is enough time to make little changes that will revamp your life and build a future you will love.

Don’t Wait, Don’t Cram

Do you want your bucket list to stay just that, or become a list of experiences?

The choice is all yours.

If you look at your bucket list and the bulk of it truly isn’t attainable right now- maybe every item on there requires the time and money of a retired millionaire- then the list is the problem, not you or the logistics of your life.

There’s no need to do away with the lofty ambitions but find balance with new bucket list ideas within your reach.

Look at your bucket list from a different perspective. Maybe you want to live on a sailboat, sleep in a treehouse in the jungle, and perform a sold-out show at Red Rocks. Keep these safely written on your list for when you cross them out one day, but for now, consider the feelings and aspects you’re really chasing so you can feel it all right now.

Here are a few here-and-now bucket list ideas:

• Go camping
• Swim under the rising or setting sun
• Start something new or finish something you’ve been meaning to
• Do yoga in a pretty outdoor spot
• Take up a new creative hobby: painting, drawing, writing, embroidery, photography
• Take up a new outdoor hobby: hiking, hammocking, swimming, sunset chasing, botany, gardening, paddle boarding
• Go to a concert
• Perform for a small audience
• Find a cool Airbnb or Vrbo nearby and get away for a night or two

Use this list as inspiration to revise your life bucket list with sights and experiences you can attain this coming summer, tomorrow, or even this afternoon.

Embrace the Flow and Make the Most of the Moments In Between

What you have probably realized by now, is that a heaping handful of life’s most profound moments aren’t planned at all. They happen at random or in the moments following the one where chaos ensued and all your plans fell through.

Let this lesson give you a piece of peace.

The pressure isn’t on you to plan out every one of your good moments. Absolutely take the initiative to arrange the trips and experiences you fancy, but when plans fall through remember this could be your lucky break. When an opportunity presents itself to you, think about it and consider saying yes even if it is completely astray from what you had envisioned.

You never know when your next best day and favorite memory to think back on will occur.

Your life is sure to be filled with countless huge, memorable moments- planned or unplanned. However, the best thing you can do to fill your life with overflowing abundance is to fall in love with the little moments. Such as:

• The moments right after you wake up
• When you catch a glimpse of the sunset as you’re bustling through your busy day
• Seeing the stars at night
• Running into a good friend unexpectedly
• When the Sun’s rays rest on your skin and rejuvenate you
• When you create something you’re proud of
• The moment you finally get to sit down and rest
• The first day of your favorite season
• The moment you realize how far you have come
• Seeing the same beautiful view every day
• Every good meal
• Getting over a random fear you have
• Stumbling upon a new song, book, or pastime you love
• Looking at the world around you

It’s All Part of the Experience

Some things in life are inevitable; like heartbreak, loss, disappointment, and sadness. It’s almost without a doubt you will experience all those and more throughout your life.

What isn’t inevitable is reaching your goals, seeing the world, or filling your memories with adventure.

Don’t let the fear of the inevitable stop you from seeking every good thing that’s possible for you.

Don’t let the fear of everything going wrong stop you from trying anything at all.

Don’t let the fear of missing something stop you from making memories while you have it.

Don’t let the fear of getting hurt stop you from living out your experience here on Earth.

It’s all part of the experience of life- both the good and the bad- but if you let your fear of the bad guide you, you won’t experience as much of the good.

So How Will You Fill Your Time Before It Ends?

Suppose you have the luxury of seeing the end of your timeline loom near, covered with lines and wrinkles from all the days you lived, surrounded by friends you’ve known through decades and family too. Would you rather be whining to them about all the things you never got to do, or telling them stories of faraway lands you explored, experiences you lived, and the people you met and fell in love with along the way?

The choice is yours, and you get to make that choice every day you wake up.