Are You Waiting for a Catastrophic Life Event to Enjoy YOUR Life?

change your thoughts change your life

Last night I was at an event where I saw a gentleman I have not seen in years.  He told me he was selling his business and buying a camper and going to enjoy life.  He had recently been in the hospital where he had a critical illness and surgery.  He had a life changing shift in perspective.

This is a story you hear too often.  Sometimes cancer is the issue encountered by a person that creates the opportunity for them to reevaluate their life. Maybe that shift is caused by an illness like a stroke or heart attack.

Indeed, maybe these illnesses serve a purpose where the person may not have otherwise reevaluated their priorities.

Time and again you hear stories where people “thank” their illnesses for setting them straight and then (many times but not always) to move forward to live lives of joy and fulfillment.

Maybe the time never comes and they become old and realized, too late, at end of life, that they never really lived, but have, instead, lived a life of regrets – something those who have worked in nursing homes have heard talking to residents.

I do not believe this has to be this way.  The awareness is really there, but in our reactive, crisis intervention society, we push life enjoyment to the back burner.

Going back to the people who shift their lives after a catastrophic illness, it is evident that the ability for people to enjoy life is really there – in each of us.

Unfortunately, we are a product of our learned behavior.  We may have grown up in a less than optimal life situation which, as I have seen, keeps us stuck and traumatized throughout our lives.  Unfortunately, too, our children learn what they see – the “daily grind”, working hard, living thinking of lack and hardship, believing life is not fair and has to be difficult.

Today, this moment, is your chance to take a moment to stop and look at how you are living your life.

Do you spend your days frustrated, angry, and hate-filled or with joyful anticipation for the opportunities each new day brings.

Don’t wait for a catastrophic illness to happen. Don’t wait for retirement. Don’t wait for ______________ (fill in the blank) to start living your life.

I believe that it is time to enjoy life.  We just need to be aware that we have that power and the option to do so.

Through self-awareness, I believe we can make every moment of our day can feel like we are at Play <3

Love,

Doreen Guma

Photo credit https://www.law-of-attraction.com/753/change-your-thoughts-transform-your-life/

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Doreen Guma, MA, FACHE, CPC, CLC:  Doreen holds a Bachelor of Science in Management, a Masters in Business and Policy Studies, is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a Certified Social and Emotional Intelligence Coach, Certified Professional Coach, Certified Life Coach, and the author of the book, If I Knew Then What I Know Now, Our Quest for Quality of Life.

Doreen is the founder of the Time to Play Foundation, a 501c3 not for profit organization with the mission and purpose to enrich the lives of others through programs, public awareness outreach activities, events and learning opportunities that further the concept of enjoying life.  The Foundation’s website, www.TimetoPlayFoundation.org, has resources, events and articles for a person to learn what they need to know for a better life.  Contact Doreen at 631-331-2675 or email: doreen@timetoplay.com

The Foundation offers an unconventional approach in a non-threatening manner to provide solutions for the life situations that people may encounter.  Working in healthcare since 1987, and with her background in quality improvement, she has followed statistics showing our society’s current evolution to be more “sick and sad”.   She developed the Time to Play Philosophy:  you have to be happy, healthy, have money and a work / life balance for quality of life and believes everyone has the ability to enjoy life.

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