Let’s Go and Enjoy: We are Alive | 12 Tips to Enjoy More
The alarm goes off, and we wake up to a brand new day. We should be grateful and happy because we are alive! We have been given another day. Right? Well, if you are like me, happiness is not exactly the first feeling I have when I wake up. But, if we think about it, every morning when we open our eyes, we should imagine God opening the door to a brand new day telling us: “Go and Enjoy.”
Well, ideally, that is the way it should be. However, we all know life is not easy and that some days look more like our worst enemy opening the same door and saying in a sarcastic tone: “Go and Enjoy muahaha, muhaha.”
Let’s face it. It is a reality. We all have good days and bad days, or maybe terrible days, where we think the word “enjoy” doesn’t fit anywhere. The good news is that even in those terrible days, we can still have something to enjoy, and that is what we need to find and focus on always.
What is the Meaning of the Word “Enjoy”?
After reviewing the definition from several dictionaries, I decided to go with the one I found on learnersdictionary.com:
To take pleasure in something
To have or experience something good
To have a good time
So, How do We Enjoy Something?
Reflecting on the definition, the word “enjoy” can relate to many things:
- Things we do: Everything related to action words like traveling, playing, eating, sleeping, talking, listening, watching, working, helping, exercising, etc. For example, I enjoy traveling or, I enjoy drinking a glass of wine
- Things we have: Usually material things like a house, a boat, a car, etc. For example, I enjoy my house because it has everything I need
- Experiences we have: These are moments that involve feelings like celebrations, achievements, relationships, etc. For example, I enjoy being with my family; I enjoy when I accomplish something,
As we can see, “enjoy” comes from something we like. Therefore, having someone who tells us “go and enjoy” is the best thing that can happen to us. Isn’t it?
Just think about how you would feel if your boss, your husband or wife or your kids tell you everyday “go and enjoy.” Wouldn’t that be great? So, if this “enjoy thing” is so good, why don’t we do it more often?
What Keeps Us From Enjoying?
I think there is only one answer to this question, and that is:
Ourselves
Yes, we are the only ones who keep us from enjoying things we do, things we have, moments, experiences, etc. Why? Well, that is the one million dollar question.
I am a mother of teenagers, and like every teenager, their mood is like a roller coaster. That means that they can enjoy something, and the next minute, the enjoyment disappear without any explanation. Why? Doctors attribute this to hormones. So let’s say they have an excuse.
Now, what about us, adult people, what is our excuse? I tried to find an answer, and everything I read got me to conclude that unless we suffer from depression or a major physical or mental illness, we all should be in the capacity to enjoy things, moments and experiences. It is only up to us to decide to enjoy each of them, and we should not have any excuse for not doing it.
12 Tips to Enjoy More
- Let’s start by looking at our day by moments, not as a 24 hours day. Pretending to enjoy our whole day is maybe impossible. Our days are usually like teenagers mood. There are a lot of ups and downs in one day. So let’s focus on enjoying the up moments we have through our day.
- Enjoy little things as well as big things. Even better, let’s enjoy the little things as if they were big things.
- Be aware and conscious of what we are enjoying. If we are not conscious that we are enjoying something, we can not enjoy it. Just like I explained in my post about “Awareness is the Key to Everything,” we need to know that something exists so we can do something about it.
- Live in the “Here and Now.” We need to live in the moment. If we are distracted when we do something we enjoy, then we cannot enjoy it. We need to have our mind in what we are doing so we can enjoy it.
- Slow Down. Being in a rush deprives us to enjoy whatever we are enjoying. So let’s practice to take our time whenever we are enjoying something. It is not the same to drink our morning coffee in a hurry while walking to our car than to take the time to drink our coffee and flavoring it sitting in our kitchen with our spouse. Have you heard about the Slow Movement? Take a look at this interesting approach that talks about “time poverty.”
- Make a list of all the things we enjoy. We can separate them by things we like to do, things we have and the experiences we like. Let’s add little things like having a coffee in the morning and big things like traveling. This list will help us to be aware of these things when they happen.
- Every time we are doing something, let’s ask ourselves: “Do I enjoy doing this?” This question will help us to get conscious about the things we enjoy. If our answer is yes, then we know what to do: enjoy it
- Do more of what we enjoy. This means being pro-active and adding more things that we enjoy to our day, not wait for them to happen. i.e:
- Set achievable goals for each day. Every one of us enjoys that moment when we reach a goal. For example, one of my favorite things to do is to scratch out something from my to-do list.
- Share what we enjoy with others. Most of the times telling others about something we enjoy makes us enjoy it again. It is like when we tell someone about a trip we had. Telling the story makes us enjoy the whole trip again.
- When reflecting about our day or someone ask us about our day, let’s try to mention all the things we enjoyed. This will make us focus on what we enjoy and on the positives of our day.
- Try new things as I suggest in my post “Say Yes to an Adventurous Life.” By being more adventurous, we can discover new things to enjoy
Oh...The Things I Enjoy:
While writing this post, I decided to make my list of the things I enjoy the most. During 5 minutes, I tried to put everything I remembered: big things, little things and crazy things too. I came up with a long list of 84 things and I know I have plenty more. I will only share a few here to help you think about the things you enjoy:
- Sleep late and staying in bed for a while after the alarm goes off
- Spending time with my kids when their mood is up, of course. Listening to their stories and silly things and watching them smile is extremely enjoyable.
- Eating a vanilla icecream cone every Sunday after mass
- Working on my blog: this is very new to me, but I enjoy it because it has everything I like to do: creativity, design, reading, and listening about topics I like, learning new things, sharing my ideas, etc
- Going for a walk with my husband: I enjoy that time because we talk about anything and everything. It is a great time to connect.
- The beach or the lake with my family, friends and a cold beer in my hand
The One Thing I Enjoy that Would Like to Do Every Day
After reviewing my list, I realized that there are a lot of things that I enjoy that are easy to do frequently, but for some reason, I don’t do it. One of them is reading a good book. From now on, I will make an effort to get into the habit of reading again.
Conclusion:
To enjoy our life more, the first thing we have to do is to make the decision every morning to open the door of a new day and tell ourselves:
“Let’s Go to Enjoy my Day”
Making this important decision can change the outcome of our days. Remember, “Enjoy” is all about good things and good times, and it is essential for a happy and healthy life. When we put the word “Enjoy” into action, we get:
- More energy
- The wish to share
- To be more grateful
- To be more productive
- To reduce our stress level
- Good moments and memories
- To smile often
- To make others smile
As I said before, we all have good days and bad days, but even in those bad days, almost always, we can have things, moments, and experiences that we can enjoy. By living in the here and now and being conscious of what we enjoy, we will be able to add more of those things we enjoy to our days.
I have two questions for you?
- What are a few things you enjoy the most?
- What is that one thing you enjoy that can be easily added to your every day?
Please share your answers.
Below is a link of TEDx Talk about Slowness and the Slow Movement that I really enjoyed. It made me think about the importance of slow down to enjoy life.
I will be sharing things I enjoy on Instagram and Facebook. If you are curious, check them out!
2 Comments
Wendy Sumrell
Eliana
I love your blog and the word enjoy ? is one that I will start incorporating into my daily life. Here are a few things I enjoy –
??Being with my family – sharing stories around the table, singing a song loud in the car with my girls, sharing a funny pun, cruising the lake together, long walks with my girls talking about life
??Gardening / it is therapy for me
??My animals- my brother said that I am reverting back to childhood having animals around the house – dog, now two cats, horse (miss my time w him- something I enjoyed immensely)
??My career – being creative leader, implementing new ideas, being challenged and turning the challenge into an opportunity, making an impact on others, creating my own brand – making an impact on those around me
??Being me – I enjoy time by myself – biking, exercising, drinking my coffee in the am preparing for my day, reading, learning something new, meditating, reading my devotionals and letting them sink in throughout my day
??I have enjoyed each chapter in my life – each one is different and brings new and exciting opportunities. As I reflect back, there are things that I have experienced that have brought enjoyment and satisfaction.
Thank you for sharing your heart. Keep up the good work Eliana.
Wendy
Eliana Cordoba
Thanks, Wendy for sharing all those things you enjoy. We definitely have a lot in common ;). It is always good to think about the things we enjoy to enjoy them even more and to do them more often. So, let’s go and enjoy our weekend and life!