#livingmybestlife

#livingmybestlife, what do people really mean when they post this under a picture? How do you determine when you are really living your best life? What scale do we use when measuring to see if we are actually living our best life or if we have somehow failed in comparison to others? Is living your best life different for every individual or are we measured on the same scale? When rappers or actors post lavish pictures with this hashtag, is that the epitome of living your best life or is that merely fulfilling a societal expectation of what we are all meant to be aspiring too? Are they happier than me because they have more money or does more money really bring more problems? Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I disagree with their lifestyle or even the promotion of it. I truly believe “each to their own” and DO YOU to the best of your ability. Most people do measure living their best life according to social media standards, the amount of likes and followers.

Is living our best life a feeling or is it merely the acceptance or affirmation from others that informs us that we have achieved IT? I used to worry about my appearance, was I wearing the right clothes, was I earning enough and did I have enough friends. When I look back I feel as if I wasted so much time worrying about how the outside world perceived me and not really focusing on what was truly important, which was how I perceived myself. I was never really comfortable with the things I did and it was because I was trying to conform to what I thought equated to living my best life. I sometimes wish I could have saved myself so much time if only my 2018 self could have told my younger self that actually the things that I am doing will never make me feel happy, because I am not doing them for me but was merely doing them so that I could feel accepted. In reality what I should have been doing was the things that would make me happy, because it is only when you are able to feel comfortable with who you are, when you are able to inspire yourself and live as a happy and content person, can you be accepted by others because your authentic self is what real genuine friends are looking for.

Take for instance writing. I had never written anything except assignments for university. I enjoyed writing them and I enjoyed the process of writing. When I then reached the age of 43 I decided to start a blog and co-author a book and doing this gave me a sense of achievement that I have only ever felt once before in my life and that was when I had my children. Don’t misunderstand, everything I have achieved in my career has also filled me with pride, but this was a different feeling, a feeling that I can’t begin to fully express with words and I think it was because I had finally done something for me and not so that I could check off boxes on the questionnaire of life.

When I look at my friends, most of whom I have had in my life for 30 plus years, it seems as if we have all been on the same journey of discovery and I watch them and all that they have achieved in life and maybe I am wrong but it seems as if they too have reached a point where they do them 100 percent and do it with unwavering authenticity. It makes me wonder if we all endure good and bad, have successes and failures, enjoy the occasional smooth road and endure and conquer the mountains that can stand in our way and only after some of our hardest and most painful climbs have we really learned and understood what life is really about and what can bring us inner peace. Our internal happiness is what drives us to get up on a daily basis and strive for more and to be better. If we can attain inner peace then that is what draws our loved ones closer and means they want to seek out our company. As we get older in life we see life for what it is really made for and not what it appears to be. Is living our best life really about the car we drive, the place we work, whether our clothes are bought in primark or from a designer store? Does any of this demonstrate our character or is this just a way for us to show people that we are indeed good enough to be accepted according to some unwritten standard set by society? Is it real life? I mean a picture on Instagram may show that we have a lavish lifestyle and if we use the hashtag #livingmybestlife then of course it has to be true….right? But underneath we have no substance, no value, no morals and it doesn’t bring us peace. For me, feeling at peace with myself, who I am and being comfortable with the choices I have made is what constitutes living the best of me. Because when you know where you are at, what you stand for, where you are going that means you’re at peace with yourself, that's when you really know your living life the way YOU want it.