Our quality of life is dependent on many things. Amazingly enough, our quality of life is not dependent on the circumstances of our world. It isn’t dependent upon your spouse or significant other. It isn’t dependent upon how well our children behave or if they meet our expectations. Our quality of life isn’t dependent up on our job or our income. I believe our quality of life is determined by how we respond to life circumstances and the meanings we attach to what is happening in our life. I’m not talking about being a ‘glass is half full’ kind of person. I’m talking about attaching real meaning to what occurs in life and choosing to respond in a way that helps us live the kind of life we want to live.
What kind of life do you want? How often do you think about what kind of life you want? The question isn’t ‘what kind of life did you parents want for you?’ or your friends, or the culture you’ve been surrounded with or the particular faith tribe or political affiliations you have. The question is ‘what kind of life do YOU want?’ Only you can answer that question. And your answer to that question will determine your quality of life.
Lets say you’re in a job that leaves you completely unsatisfied. Maybe you hate it or maybe you’re simply… unsatisfied. You could spend the next 5 years (which would be way too long) complaining, wishing, hoping for a new job. One that aligns closer to your purposes and the intentions you have for life. If you’ve spent a fair amount of time and work, thinking about, meditating and praying about what kind of life you want to live, then the direction forward will be much more clear to you and you will be 10 steps closer to landing the kind of job you feel is aligned with your purpose on the planet (Full disclosure: I believe everyone’s purpose involves adding value to the lives as others).
Discovering what kind of life we want isn’t impossible. Those answers are lying there deep within us. At first we may just have some general ideas. I want to feel loved, I want to feel connected, I want to feel freedom, etc. But as we do the work and process and dig to the core of who we are, these general ideas will get more and more specific. Doing this work often times will reveal a road map, so to speak, of how we move towards the kind of life we want.
Some of you reading this are saying, ‘duh’ Brad. That’s a no brainer. But some reading this have had vague ideas of what they want, but have never clarified and done the work to get clear on what kind of life they want to live.
Some of you may be saying, ‘that’s too much focus on me’. Well that’s a whole other issue. But suffice it to say, if you can’t focus on what you want in life, you’ll only be able to give to others at a fraction of your potential.
So I ask you… what kind of life do you want?
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Today I will take the time to begin to do the work to get clear on what kind of life I want. I will carve time out of my schedule and get silent, meditate, pray, do the things that make me come alive, so that I can get in touch with my core, my heart. The answer to this question lies within me and I am capable of getting clear on what kind of life I want.