Driving my Miata on a warm Colorado day last week, top down, wonderful sound of the exhaust in my ears, reminded me of a very important element in living every day with a positive attitude. Do something that lights me up. Every day! Use that energy to frame everything else I want to do.
Daily, vibrant living requires three things. 1. Learn to follow your own internal, lights-on clues to guide your daily decisions. 2. Maintain this lights-on energy by having a conscious awareness of your thoughts and a commitment to shift all negative thinking to positive. 3. Recognize your life is a journey of understanding and navigating through any old restrictive patterns and negative self-talk with the goal of creating peak experiences in all that you do.
Here’s an example of how following one lights-on clue can guide your daily decisions. I am very lights-on driving my Miata. Every time, I’m conscious of having a face splitting grin during the whole experience. However, I have noticed that getting in and out of a low to the ground sports car is a little more difficult at 68 than it was at 48. (I’ve also noticed that they must be making the seats a little narrower than they used to.) If I want to keep having the lights-on driving experience, I need to stay limber and flexible. Either that or be willing to live with asking Cathy to come help me get in and out of the car.
As I head to the gym, or more importantly, as I try and talk myself out of heading to the gym, I will hold the image of Miata Joy in my mind. I will hold the image of being an 80 year old, flexible man driving up to a Miata rally surrounded by young Miata owners and bounding out of his car with ease. As I do those dreaded squats, dizzily draining all blood from my head, I will remember Miata Joy and smile though one more squat. As I stretch, aiming for my toes, while touching my knees, I will feel the excitement and pride of being a fully engaged, flexible sports car owner and reach just a little further.
If you have a desire to live a life filled with peak experiences, then you need to pay close attention to your own internal lights-on clues. Like our client, Laurie says – vibrant living is easy if you just do what lights you up every day. When you do something that energizes you every day, it will give you the energetic impetus to do the actions and activities that are critical to achieve your bigger visions.
Using Miata Joy to stay fit and flexible,
Gary
