Avoid the Void in Your Daily Living: How to Live Life to the Fullest

Ever get the feeling like something’s missing in your life even though your schedule is packed back to back with social gatherings and activities after work and weekends? Or maybe you have loads of extra time and don’t know how to use it. Living life to the fullest starts with reshaping the way you think and do things—spending your moments intentionally and meaningfully with a purpose to grow, instead of doing things mindlessly and as if you have no extra minute to spare. And when you have no extra moment to spare, you think less about the process and reasoning behind your actions.

The best investment you can make in your life is putting your time into long lasting intangibles, which include relationships and constant growth in all areas of your life.

1) Spiritual growth

Studies have shown that spirituality/faith can play an important role in a person’s health and wellness. A study presented at the New York Academy of Medicine conference in March 2014 concluded that spiritual care has the potential to be a powerful intervention in patient care. Another study in the journal of Psychological Medicine published in 2015 examined the connections between spirituality and mental health and found that spiritual intervention reduced anxiety for patients. For more, read “6 Ways Spirituality Can Help Make You Healthier” on EverydayHealth.com and “5 Scientifically Supported Benefits of Prayer.”

Quotables

“It is the unseen and the spiritual in people that determines the outward and the actual.” -Oswald Chambers

“We are more than just flesh and bones. There’s a certain spiritual nature and something of the mind that we can’t measure. We can’t find it. With all our sophisticated equipment, we cannot monitor or define it, and yet it’s there.” – Ben Carson

“In faith, there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t.” – Blaise Pascal

2) Intellectual/Mental growth

Growing in your intellect includes the constant development of your brain through creativity, logical reasoning and critical thinking that also come from picking up new skills, trying new activities and absorbing information from reading and observing. Growing in this area means a never-ending journey of learning.

Quotables

“Ordinary people seek entertainment. Extraordinary people seek education and learning.”
-Benjamin Hardy

“Everybody has talent, it’s just a matter of moving around until you’ve discovered what it is.” – George Lucas

“You have to approach things with childlike curiosity. Inventors are the experts with beginners minds.”
-Jeff Bezos

3) Character growth

Growing in your character involves self control, discipline and persistence. Practice this by always going a step further, e.g., not stopping when you feel tired at the halfway mark but making sure to finish your goal of running that extra mile without stopping.

Quotables

“Knowledge will give you power, but character respect.” – Bruce Lee

“I’ve always considered myself to be just average talent and what I have is a ridiculous insane obsessiveness for practice and preparation.” – Will Smith

“I think self-discipline is something, it’s like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.” – Daniel Goldstein

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” – Helen Keller

4) Social growth

Social growth involves being able to interact positively with others. Many issues occur in relationships due to a lack of listening skills, where the focus is more on the reply than attempting to understand what is being communicated. Be aware of your feelings and practice sympathy, empathy, and become a joy and help to others. You’ll win more friends and have a more rewarding life that way.

Quotables

“Friends and good manners will carry you where money won’t go.” – Margaret Walker

“I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let’s face it, friends make life a lot more fun.” – Charles R. Swindoll

“Be true to yourself, help others, make each day your masterpiece, make friendship a fine art, drink deeply from good books – especially the Bible, build a shelter against a rainy day, give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day.” – John Wooden

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand. Most people listen with the intent to reply.” – Stephen Covey

5) Physical growth

Take time to work on your health and well being. If you’ve lived a careless and stationary life that lacks physical activity and natural foods, and you also don’t remember the last time you went to the dentist or checked your health, now’s a good time to start. When your body is healthy, you function better and your older self with thank you later down the road.

Quotables

“I was one of those people who put too much emphasis on work and career and material possessions, and it took its toll on all my relationships, on my physical health, my emotional and mental health.” – Tony Shalhoub

“The body needs its rest, and sleep is extremely important in any health regimen. There should be three main things: eating, exercise and sleep. All three together in the right balance make for a truly healthy lifestyle.” – Rohit Shetty

“Care for life and physical health, with due regard for the needs of others and the common good, is concomitant with respect for human dignity.” – Salvatore J. Cordileone

Life becomes so much more meaningful if you make a conscious effort to add meaning and life to your years instead of just trying to add years to your life. And there’s never a better time to start this journey than now.