2. Embrace the Way Your Life Actually Is
According to the Buddha, the secret to life is not to want what you don’t have, but to actually want what you have. There is an immense feeling of freedom associated with taking life as it comes. Once you learn to simultaneously embrace the positive and negative aspects of your life, you'll then have a real chance to enjoy life to the full and to value everything that the world has bestowed upon you. You'll find that surrendering to the reality of who you really are truly gives you the opportunity to live up to your potential.
We've all heard the saying 'slow and steady wins the race,' but not many of us realize how important this approach to life really is. By constantly being in a hurry, we actually end up compromising our own success. If we get ahead of ourselves, then we're bound to make a lot more mistakes. If we cut corners, we're sure to end up paying a price for it later on. It is only through disciplined and incremental growth that we can make positive and lasting changes to our lives.
4. Be More Grateful
Many of us tend to count our worries a lot more often than we count our blessings and privileges. However, possessing such an attitude will diminish your ability to lead a happy and fulfilling life, since you'll constantly be weighed down by negativity. An efficient recipe for emotional health and well-being is to recognize all the good that your life contains and to receive it with gratitude.
Many times, we find our feelings confusing, terrifying, or hard to bear, so we try our hardest to keep them at a distance. However, by putting up a wall and choosing not to feel, we usually end up draining ourselves of the psychological energy that makes life pleasurable and meaningful. If we cease to feel anything, then we don't only deprive ourselves of the growth that can come out of negative emotions, but we'll also end up sucking all the fun out of life's more positive experiences. Quite simply, when we stop feeling, we cease to be human beings and end up simply going through the motions...
6. Accept Success and Failure as Parts of Life’s Journey
Everyone who's alive is constantly learning, no matter how old they are. That's why it's important not to be too hard on ourselves, and to accept that trying, succeeding, failing, and trying again is the only real way to instill lasting confidence in ourselves. No matter how successful or mature we become, our inner child will always require friends and mentors who'll help see us through.
7. Take Care of Your Loving Relationships
Relationships don't just appear and disappear magically since they require a great deal of hard work and attentive care to help them grow and to keep them sustained. Mature love involves honoring our differences yet overcoming distance on practically a daily basis. It accepts the reality that every relationship will have its fair share of pain and suffering, but it also accepts that the only way to stay on track is through unyielding compassion. Learn to be more understanding, and your love will shine through, brighter than ever.