Disappointed. Scared. Doubtful.

Anxious of a suddenly uncertain future.

Reluctant of making choices in fear of choosing the wrong one.

Do these feelings sound familiar? Do they make you want to cry and give up? Do they make you run and hide under the cover with a voice echoing in the back of your head “my life is over?”

They do to me.

Sometimes it feels as if they suck out all motivation, leaving me in the dark with a heavy heart and a lost mind. Like when I get another rejection from a job I applied to and have to make choices I feel unready to do.

Or when the past catches up with me, telling me that I have done something wrong and should have been somewhere else at a certain time.

I want to escape the situation I am in so badly—but the only way out is to accept.

In times like these, I used to put my life on hold; I would declare “a state of emergency” and convince myself that my life would continue when the “bad” situation disappeared.

The problem was that it became difficult to accept the rough times if I was obsessed with getting out of them.

Being present and content was pretty much impossible.

So now—with the exception of extreme circumstances—I don’t put my life on hold when it slaps me in the face. I make the choice to keep doing my favourite things—the small, day to day moments that make me feel alive.

Here are some examples of mine:

1. I don’t stop painting my toenails with lovely colours.

2. I don’t stop calling my old grandpa in the elderly home to tell him that I love him.

3. I don’t stop watching “Eat. Pray. Love” for the hundredths time.

4. I don’t stop smiling when the sun is shining.

5. I don’t stop playing with my neighbour’s little puppy.

6. I don’t stop breathing (I mean really breathing, the way that connects me with every bit of my soul).

7. I don’t stop holding my lover’s hand.

8. I don’t stop believing that what is happening now happens for a reason.

9. I don’t stop going for my favourite run.

10. I don’t stop drinking coffee with my best friend.

11. I don’t stop dreaming about my next adventure.

12. I don’t stop listening to “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac.

13. I don’t stop reading this quote by Alan Watts (or other quotes by this genius):

“To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don’t grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.” ~ Alan Watts

14. I don’t stop laughing of how I take life so darn seriously.

15. I don’t stop drinking heavy, dark, hot chocolate when it is cold and wet outside.

16. I don’t stop practicing yoga (in whatever way that may be).

17. I don’t stop wearing my favourite earrings and cowboy boots to go out dancing.

18. I don’t stop loving all my strengths and weaknesses. Unconditionally.

19. I don’t stop watching this Youtube clip of Waylon Lewis explaining how to transform obstacles in life to opportunity.

20. I don’t stop doing what makes me feel alive.

I found it helpful to just make this list—why not try making one of your own?

Author: Katinka Sætersdal Remøe 

Editor: Renée Picard

Photo: Andrew Welch at Unsplash