How do YOU want to Live YOUR Life?
It’s an interesting question. How do you want to live your life? When you look back on your list of important things and then think about your dreams you are starting to go in the right direction. Sometimes the introspection can be hard, especially when you feel like you have a lot of roadblocks in the way, or you aren’t quite sure where to start. Not to mention just starting can be hard, especially when there are a lot of steps.
I have the tendency to wait to start things until the perfect time. Do you do that? What is holding you back from just starting to live your dreams and goals?
Live Your Life: Where I start
I have always felt like I live life off the beaten path. Just a little bit different than what the norm is. As I have moved through the years, and taken so many personality tests, I realize that I just like to be a little bit different. I tend to make choices that make life a bit more complicated. I don’t put a huge amount of stock into all of the personality tests I have taken, but I am able to recognize how I make choices, why I may make some of those choices, and it gives me a way to explain some of my choices to others.
If you are curious, I am an introvert, a highly sensitive person, an INFJ, type 4w5, and a rebel. My strengths are learner – perfect for someone who wants to demonstrate life-long learning to her kids; intellection – someone who likes to think; input – someone who is inquisitive and likes to collect things (either information or ideas); and futuristic – someone who is fascinated with the future, and enjoys looking at the big picture vision.
So where I start is to deep dive on who I am. What are the things that make me tick? Are there specific instances that are more stressful than others? What are my strengths? And how can I lean into them?
Live Your Life: Where you should Start
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Like I said before, introspection can be difficult. But, I believe that when you are honest with yourself, and who you are, it opens up a lot of ideas about how you want to live your life and where you can start. Does that mean that you need to take a bunch of personality tests like I did? Nope, not at all. I know people who are very successful without doing personality assessments. For me, I had hit a roadblock many years ago, and I didn’t know how to get out of it. I didn’t know who I was or what I wanted, and this helped me greatly.
Think about the rhythms and routines that lead to happy days for you. What are the decisions that you make throughout those days that make you look back and say “that was a good day!” Write those down in that notebook you started on Day 1.
When you think about your good days, it shouldn’t be a special event (although, it can be if that is where you feel you thrive), but more a regular day. When you look back on your day, what is it that sticks out as being good?
For me, things like waking up early and having plenty of time for all of my morning routine before the kids get up is, and not having to rush to 10 different places throughout the day, enjoying a long period of reading aloud to my kids during the day, or in the evening after dinner – these are all things that make me feel like my day was successful. Very ordinary, but extraordinary in my eyes.
How do YOU want to live YOUR life?
This is the question of the day, isn’t it? How do you want to live your life? My hopes for you are that you are able to lean into what is most important to you. I want you to be unapologetic about the choices that you make for your life, and your family’s life. Does that mean that I want you to be callous and self-centered? Obviously not. However, when you start to put everyone and everything else before any consideration for self, that also is not healthy.
Most likely you are a homeschooler, or you are considering homeschooling. That one decision is way outside the norm (although it is becoming more popular!). When someone asks your kids what grade they are in, or how it is to homeschool, do you feel like you need to justify your reasons for homeschooling? Even as someone who has been homeschooling for 12 years, I still sometimes feel this way. Why? Because my choice is different. But, I want you to be confident in the choices you make. My hope is that throughout this series you start to build that confidence, and are able to feel as though you are on the right path for YOUR life, no one else’s.
The Bottom Line: Live YOUR Life
How you live your days turns into how you live your life. You want to have purpose. You want to do the things you and your family are passionate about. Don’t let anyone challenge the choices that you are making for you and your family. It is totally OK if you are off the beaten path like I am, and also equally as fine if you make decisions that are more mainstream for your family. The bottom line is that you are making these decisions for you, and not for someone else.
Don’t live your life based on someone else’s rules. Don’t try to replicate what someone else is doing in all facets of their life – really consider what is most important, and then start building your life from there.
What is one decision you are making today to live a life you love? What is one thing you could change?
