LIVING A LIFE OF PERFECT DAYS

My absence from this site, and my lack of inspiration to write has forced me to start to reflect a little on this blog and why I initially started it. I think that whenever your motivation is faltering in a certain area, it can be beneficial to reconnect with your intention and think about the why behind what you are doing.

This blog was born out of my desire to live life one day at a time. I was at a pointwhere I had been spending a lot of time thinking about what I really desired, and for the first time I was beginning to feel like all the things I had ever wanted were actually possible. I remember feeling extremely overwhelmed by the enormity of what I felt I had to achieve to manifest my vision. I had no idea how it would ever happen and I felt unbelievably daunted by the prospect of making it happen.

I realised that the reason I was feeling this way was because of my focus. I was focusing in how big I thought my dream was, how impossible it felt, and on all the things that I would have to do to get there. Feelings of fear, dread, doubt and anxiety arose as I pondered the future and the huge task that lay before me. It was at this point that I decided I needed to shift the way I was thinking about it all. I decided then and there to start living my life one day at a time.

Ask, what can I do today?
I decided to simply focus on what I could do today to take me toward my dreams, rather than all the things that would need to be done in the future. I realised that if each day, I took some step, some action, or did one thing that was a step in the right direction, and if I did this every day, I would eventually be lead to the achievement of my dreams. I reminded myself that my point of power is only in the now. I could not predict what would happen tomorrow, a week from now or a year from now, and I could definitely not control it. So I brought my self back to the one thing I could control - now. How could I create the best now? Who could I be in this now and what things could I do, that would ensure I was creating the future I wanted

I decided to think about what the perfect day would look like to me. Who would I be being, what actions would I be taking, what baby steps could I commit to which were in line with where I wanted to be. I realised that if I lived each day as the perfect day, then my life would then become a culmination of perfect days.... and so a life of perfect days was born.

A life of perfect days is not so much about creating a day where everything around you is absolutely perfect or where the world is looking exactly as you want it too. It is more about how you feel, who you are being and how you are acting. For me, it was about finding my own inner power and reclaiming my ability to live as a creator in my life. I wanted to have the ability to create my day as I wanted it to be. In order to do this I had to get present, forget about the future and just live my life moment by moment with mindfulness.

Create the perfect day
In order to create my perfect day, I committed to some practices that would either be completed daily or several times a week. I initially got clear on what my larger long term vision was, and then I broke it down in to daily practices that I believed would take me there. These practices helped reconnect me with the person I wanted to be and were baby steps that would culminate to assist the manifestation of my dreams.

Since starting this blog, I have been committed to these practices, and by integrating them in to my life on a daily basis I have created some tremendous results as well as some amazing personal transformations. This is my big list of things that create my perfect day. I do not do all of them every day, yet I know that if I am ever feeling off, I only need to do one of these things and I will start to feel better....

• Daily gratitude: Sometimes I take time to write this down, other times I just sit and reflect in my mind, or I go through a list of things before I go to sleep. This practice reminds me of all the beautiful things I have in my life and brings me back in to the present moment. It also makes me a more loving, grounded and appreciative person
• Healthy eating: I started taking a food journal as I wanted to be consciously aware of what I was putting in my mouth. I have realised that I feel my best when I eat a diet that is primarily organic and alkalising and is filled with fresh, live, unprocessed foods.
• Being positive: This is about taking the time to find the good in every thing, every one and every experience. When bad things happen I can be quick to jump in to a negative reaction which triggers emotions such as fear, anger, jealousy, hatred or criticism. Living positively, is about being optimistic about life, seeing the glass as half full and taking time to find the gifts and blessings that often arise out of challenges or experiences
• Self love: When I am being self critical, judgemental or focusing on why I am not good enough I feel crap and I tend to have a pretty crap day. Whenever I catch myself doing this now, I stop myself, and remind myself that I am doing the best I can. I am learning to be kinder to me and more gentle on myself and learning to praise and reward myself for things I do well.
• Having compassion: Rather than judging other people, making them wrong, blaming them, criticising them or saying or doing mean things, I try to stop for a second and take a breath. I remind myself that they are just a human like me, doing the best that they can with what they know. When I have compassion for someone else and allow them to be who they are without judgement it actually makes me feel better and my mind is freed up from negativity.
• Meditation: I take time daily to sit in meditation. Sometimes it may be only for 5 minutes, other times I can be in the zone for what feels like hours. There is something very powerful about taking time to sit, get quiet and reconnect with yourself. It is extremely calming, grounding and helps me find my centre when chaos surrounds me. Even taking a moment to reconnect with your breath when driving in the car or sitting on the bus can be of benefit.
• Reading: I have a huge collection of books that cover areas such as health, spirituality, NLP, happiness and healing. I like to read something from one of these books each day to ensure I am continually learning, growing and evolving.
• Blogging: For a while there, this blog became my life line. It allowed me to express myself, explore what I was experiencing and help others in the process. It also reconnected me with my great love of writing which for a while there was completely lost.
• Yoga: Yoga forces me to slow down, to breathe, to reconnect, to loosen up, to let go, to get out of my head and into my body, to relax and to come back in to the present moment
• Connecting with like minded people: I have met some amazing people over the past year or so who inspire me and help me reconnect with my truth. I love nothing more than having heart to heart conversations and exploring the magic of life with like minded souls. These types of relationships fill me up and make me feel whole.
• Exercise: I think we can all relate to how amazing you feel after a good workout. I love running outdoors and also going to the gym and working up a good sweat. Other times there is nothing better than going for a long walk. My day is definitely always better when I exercise.
• Being in the flow: Often when I am trying to make something happen in my life I become stressed, controlling and obsessive. I try to force things to happen and I make myself take excessive action. Instead I am now learning how to live in the flow. It is requiring me to start to let go and allow things to work out in due time. I am learning to only take action when I feel inspired and positive about it, and to ask for guidance when I am trying to solve a problem or create a solution. It is amazing how much more relaxing this way of living is. Doors open, people are more helpful, magic happens and results come more effortlessly.
• Being creative: When my soul is feeling a little empty it often means that a creative outlet is lacking in my life. I love to sew and make clothes, paint, draw, make things or even read creative blogs to re-inspire me and make my day a little more fun.
  
• Journalling: This has been a huge tool for me. I not only write a daily journal to help me keep track of the happenings in my life, but I also use it as a tool to reflect on and heal challenges. When something is going on in life, it can be really helpful to just write it all down. I find that getting it out of my head and on to paper really helps.
  
• Doing what I love: It is really important for me to allocate time each day to doing something that I love. Very often this will involve one of the above mentioned things. Other times it may just be as simple as taking a hot bath or dancing around the house to my favourite music. Filling my days with things I love is my number one way to create a perfect day!

Now over to you...
Take some time to think about;

• What would be on your list?
• What are those things that make you feel really good when you do them?
• What things can you do each day that help create a perfect day for you?
• Think about what your perfect day might look like. How do you feel? Who are you being? What do you see around you?What actions are you taking?
• What things can you commit to doing each day to create a life filled with perfect days?