Happen to your life.

When I was snowed in, I was faced with the harsh reality of how I spend my time. I’d assumed that I’d naturally fall into the pattern of working hard on my blog because I had so much time to spare, nowhere to go and GREAT natural lighting (thank you snow). Instead, I finished binge watching two shows on Netflix, managed to go without a shower for way longer than I’d like to admit and barely scraped together one post on my blog.

I woke up, did nothing all day, went to sleep, rinse wash and repeat.

I think that’s really reflective of how many of us view life. We just let it happen to us, as if we have no say in the whole thing. Last year I gained a bunch of weight and I hate it and it sucks, but at the end of the day nobody held me at gunpoint and forced a cookie in my mouth, nor did they chain me down and prevent me from exercising.

The same with my finances, with my emotional and intellectual health, with my job, with my friendships.

Nobody is forcing me to operate how I’ve always operated with these things. I have these days where I realize I’m so unhappy with the way things are. I’m unhappy with my weight, with the amount of stuff I have, with my financial situation, with how my time slips through my fingers, with months that pass with nothing to show for it. The more I realize these things, the more I really start to identify the cracks in my life, the more I realize that I actually have the power to change things.

I have a little sign in my bedroom that says, “there’s no way I was born to just pay bills and die,” and I think we all need to remember that a little bit more. Life is so much more than treading water until you can stop working. It’s more than saying “I guess I’ll just do it tomorrow,” knowing full well that tomorrow you’ll let your feelings justify your lack of motivation.

There is a way to happen to your life instead of just letting your life happen to you.

Our culture seems to thrive on the unhappiness of our people. Buy more, be more, spend more, have more, want more. More stuff, more love, more beauty, more youth, more money, more space in a house, more time. We are bombarded with images, slogans and campaigns that are based on convincing us we aren’t complete until we (insert thing that benefits the messenger). It’s a business, I get it, but it preys on the insecurities and unhappiness of the people. and over and over we buy into it.

This is the year that we can actually live life on purpose. By now the resolutions have probably worn off and we’re back to being the same person we were on December 27th, eagerly awaiting a chance to change. This is part of why I brought back my monthly goals, so I can have small actionable steps to turn this ship around.

I’m ready to happen to my life, because when my life just happens I spend days zoned out with absolutely nothing to show for it.