Living Well: What It Means to Me

Last week, I read a fantastic sentence from a blog article written by fellow fashion and lifestyle blogger, Megan.

“I feel so incredibly blessed to reach a point in life where I feel such peace every day.” Wow. To me, that sentence is the epitome of what life’s goal should be.

To celebrate her last year in her 20s, she talked about what she focused on since her last birthday and that line really hit me straight in the heart. My response? “I’m so happy that you feel peace every day. It’s my hope to arrive to that place someday myself.”

What Megan said stayed with me and what I said is true.

Currently, I don’t feel peace.

And honestly, I hadn’t thought of peace as one of my life goals. Financial peace (because of my friends Connor, Nathan and Page), yes. Peace peace?

No.

Quite frankly, I don’t know why it wasn’t one of my goals in life before. I guess I’ve been so busy thinking and working towards health, financial and career goals that peace wasn’t even a part of the equation.

Since peace hasn’t been one of my life goals, am I really living my best life? No, I’m not. And this got me thinking.

Aside from the physical aspect, what does living well mean to me?

NO. 1 — KNOWING HOW TO FORGIVE

Truly forgiving someone who has hurt you means letting it all go, the pain included. To me, living well means to be able to sleep because my conscious is clear.

Remember that if the other party doesn’t comply, it’s not up to you that they do. You’ve done your part and you can sleep at night knowing you did the right thing.

---

NO. 2 — UNDERSTANDING THAT EVERYTHING IS FIGUREOUTABLE

Personally, I have such a hard time in this area. I worry about everything and to point where my health has taken a major toll. When I think about it, is adulting hard? Yes and no. Yes because we have to deal with it, but no because we have or can find the resources to help us figure things out.

Living well also means to understand that in the end, things will work out. Life just takes a lot of work and elbow grease to get through each day successfully. Although I wish I could take credit for this idea, I can’t. And if you hadn’t heard of it, I learned it from Marie Forleo.

---

NO. 3 — BEING AWARE OF ONE’S HEALTH AND EMOTIONS

If I could get rid of three things in life, it would be fear, anger and anxiety. I honestly feel that if people didn’t have fear, everyone would do what they love and would be living out their dreams. If people didn’t harbor anger, more compassion, grace and love would be given.

And if people didn’t experience anxiety, depression and suicide wouldn’t exist. To me, the beginning of living well really means to be aware of one’s health (mental included) and emotions. Feeling a sense of peace happens when we work to rid of these three things from our lives in order to experience joy.

---

NO. 4 — HAVING A WELL-ROOTED IDENTITY

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. It takes a lot of work pretending to be someone you’re not. Knowing who you are and staying deeply rooted and grounded in your identity is living well. When you know yourself, you really don’t care about what others think and just enjoy life.

Who cares if you love Chanel and living in the country? We all love different things and have a different way of living and that’s okay if yours doesn’t fit the mold. Moreover, I think having the desire and actually taking steps to creating a life of peace and one that you love is a result of living well too.

---

NO. 5 — KNOWING WHERE THE LINE IS

Knowing where the line of your life is in comparison to others helps you to stay in your lane. Instead of focusing on others and what they’re doing, stay focused on you and your life. Living well doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t stay so focused that you don’t care about others, it just means that you need to put yourself first so you can take care of others. For some reason to me, there’s a sense of peace knowing that I’m living in my own little lane and it’s just me.

---

NO. 6 — TRAVELING AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY

Even if it’s to the nearest beach or taking a weekend road trip with some friends, it’s okay to escape every day life. The feeling of being “set free” when you travel is such euphoria.

And to me, when I travel, especially abroad, what’s to say that I’m not on my own adventures of learning new things WHILE experiencing a journey of self-discovery? Living well means to seize the opportunity and to live a life of no regrets.

---

NO. 7 — CELEBRATING EVERYTHING, EVEN THE SMALL WINS

Yep, this means celebrating the little stuff too. Think about it. As kids, we got happy at everything! We’d squeal at every little thing. The sound of the ice cream truck, knowing our favorite cartoon was about to come on, putting our shoes in excitement knowing we’re going to the park.

We’d smile and be happy with everything and if we didn’t get our way, we got over it. Quick. And that right there is truly living well. Not going to lie. I’m working on having more of an attitude of gratitude and staying in a child-like spirit in this area so I can truly feel peace.

What does living well mean to you?

Have you reached a point in your life where you feel peace more than you ever have?