Picture this: I’m sitting on a white sand beach, wave after beautiful wave landing on the shore, happy people strolling with shoes in hand. The sun is warm and the vibe is happy, tropical and chill. This is an amazing place to take a vacation.
Except for that really, I’m in my head, thinking about all of the other things I want to do on this trip. Need to do.
In fact — I’d spent my entire morning rushing through what was supposed to be my dream vacation.
I was in full checklist mode:
🐴 Swim with the horses at Pebbles Beach
🐒 Rush through the Barbados Wildlife Reserve
🍛 Devour some Caribbean food (without even tasting it!)
Sure, I was doing all the “right” things. But was I actually experiencing them?
Not even close.
That moment was my wake-up call. Life isn’t meant to be a to-do list you power through — it’s meant to be felt. Really experienced.
And yet so many of us (myself included!) spend our days waiting for the “perfect” moment to finally slow down and actually enjoy our lives.
And even when we are doing the things we so want to do, we are checked out because we are thinking about all of the things we need to do or haven’t done yet.
Sound familiar? This same pattern plays out in our daily lives, just without the tropical backdrop.
What I realized: You don’t need a plane ticket to Barbados to feel more alive.
You just need to interrupt the autopilot.
Most of us sleepwalk through our routines. Check emails before we’re even fully awake. Rush from one thing to the next. Then collapse at night, scrolling mindlessly, wondering where the hell our day went.
Then wonder why life feels… meh.
What can you do to feel more alive? Change one tiny thing today.
Try new routes. Stare at the clouds. Dance in your kitchen while your coffee brews. Or here’s a wild idea, actually taste your lunch instead of inhaling it while checking emails.
When you shake up your habits, you wake up your brain. You remember that life is happening right now.
Anything that allows you to BE HERE NOW. To see what’s right in front of you.
As Kurt Vonnegut so aptly put it:
“And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”
— Kurt Vonnegut
Which is exactly what I’m talking about – those moments when you actually notice you’re living your life instead of just getting through it.
So here’s what I’m curious about…
What makes you feel most alive?
For me, it’s driving with the windows down, taking long walks in new places, listening to music that just gets me at that moment. When something brings me to the present moment, I can feel it in my bones.
What about you?
Whatever it is — DO IT TODAY. Even for just five minutes.
Ditch Stress 
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