Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast—you also miss the sense of where you are going and why. – Eddie Cantor

Whether you’re in college, starting a career, getting married, or just trying to figure out how to get from Monday to Tuesday, you're going to be a lot more successful if you’re happy with your life.

 

That carpe diem cliché—“Seize the day”—actually says a lot. If you don't live your life for the present, you’ll probably wake up one day and it’ll suddenly hit you that you have no idea where the last 25 years of your life just went.

 

You’ll realize all the things you never did, all the places you never saw, how you never got to where you were going. And then you’ll just end up having a mid-life meltdown, and getting, like, a yacht and a tattoo and blond hair, hitting on people 20 years younger than you and blasting Nickelback from your new convertible.

 

It's never too late to save yourself, though.

 

         

Don’t dwell on the past.

We can draw lessons from the past, but we cannot live in it. – Lyndon Johnson

 

If you want to make the most of your life, you’ll need to learn to leave the past behind. Don’t pretend it never happened; you’ll lose a lot of important lessons that way. But take what you can from it and move on. Don’t spend your days on what-ifs and could-have-beens, or you’ll miss all the could-be’s that are happening right in front of you right now.

 

Try this: Make a list of every single one of your regrets and mistakes, the stuff you can’t stop beating yourself up about. Then go back and write down what you learned from each one. How did each one change you? You can’t go back and live your life over, but you wouldn’t be who you are now if you did.

 

Instead of looking at your mistakes as these potholes in your life where you should have taken a different road, try to see them as learning experiences that prepare you for later.

 

If you buy into the whole “everything happens for a reason” philosophy, then don’t look at that failed relationship as losing the one true love of your life, but as the way you learned what a relationship can take and what it can’t. And then use what you learned when the real person you’re supposed to be with comes along.

 

 

Don’t dwell on the future.

The future is an opaque mirror. Anyone who tries to look into it sees nothing but the dim outlines of an old and worried face. – Jim Bishop

 

Trying not to live for the future is just as hard, especially when everything around us is all about looking ahead: to-do lists, leather planners, savings accounts, retirement accounts, vacation days and one-year leases. But try to take the phrase hakuna matata to heart—no worries.

 

Worrying does nothing but stress you out, give you ulcers and make you old. So sit back, relax, and try not to obsess about the directions your life is taking.

 

Be practical, of course. Don’t ignore the future to the point where you don’t know if you’re going to be able to buy groceries this week or cover the rent next month. But also don’t spend your nights charting out the next 40 years of your life: “Get married by the time I’m 25. Own a house when I’m 27. Have kids by the time I’m 30.”

 

The truth is, you never really know how things are going to turn out or even what’s going to happen to you tomorrow. So instead of trying to control a life you haven’t even lived yet, why not go outside and throw the football, take in the colors of the twilight sky, or start to enjoy the intricacies of the scent of your glass of wine.

 

 

Meditate

Meditation is the soul’s perspective glass. – Owen Feltham

 

Meditation is all about a heightened awareness—truly knowing what’s going on with yourself and giving you an escape from the pressures of the busy, loud and fast-moving world. And it isn't necessarily about sitting on a tatami mat with your legs intertwined, breathing in and out and chanting ohmmm, either.

 

There are plenty of ways to meditate. Listen to Alan Watts for suggestions. Try to find meditation time for yourself every day. Do something you enjoy that relaxes you. Take a pottery class or learn how to crochet.

 

 

Rest

Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds. – JoJo Jensen

 

Getting plenty of rest is absolutely necessary. Lack of sleep has been linked to everything from an increased risk for colon cancer, breast cancer, heart disease and diabetes to obesity and car accidents. It’s also been documented that sleep deprivation makes us dumber (at least temporarily)—the language center of our brain shuts down, we have trouble concentrating, and we start working at the pace of turtles.

 

Not only will sleep keep you healthier and smarter, it helps ease your mind of tension and anxiety. It’s also a good time to let everything go and just get some distance from the stress of your day.

 

Don’t lie in bed replaying in your head everything that went wrong at work or running down a list of all the things you have to do tomorrow. Do that before you crawl into bed, so that once you’re in bed, you can commit to leaving all those day-to-day things behind.

 

Besides just getting enough rest, try to get to bed at exactly the same time each night to keep your body in a rhythm. This will help you feel much more calm and focused.

 

 

Exercise

 

I like weights. You know where you stand with them. Well, sometimes, you’re lying under them, trying not to let them crush you, but you see, you KNOW they’d crush you if they could. There’s honesty.  – Penny and Aggie

 

For each hour you exercise, you add one day to your life expectancy. On top of that, exercising helps you feel better about yourself. Your skin will glow, your muscles will be toned. You’ll look better, which will give you more self-confidence. And when you feel happy with yourself, your relationships tend to improve. Which brings us to the next point —

 

 

Love

 

Looking back, I have this to regret, that too often when I loved, I did not say so.  – David Grayson

 

Love is the key to getting the absolute most out of life. If there are people out there that you care about, make sure you show them. Don’t worry about who says those three words first, or what if they don’t feel the same way about you. Nothing bad ever comes out of loving something or putting a little more love out into the world.

 

Love without expecting to be loved back. Never let jealousy or resentment take over. You’ll be happier.

 

And when someone you do lov/student-e turns right around and loves you too, it’s the absolute greatest feeling in the world.

 

The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love … , you will discover that for you the world is transformed.  – Jiddu Krishnamurti

 

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