Inspiration | Life

Enjoying Life to Its Fullest

Start enjoying life before its expiration date!

Have you ever considered that each of us has an expiration date? If you are young, you are unlikely to give it much thought. But as you age, especially in your latter years, it is more in the front of your mind.

Since that final day eventually comes for all of us, why not find ways to enjoy life to its fullest every day? Let’s look at how to do this and why it is important to begin now, not later!

“Enjoy life, it has an expiration date” Zayn Malik (1993-present)

Finding Joy

All of life is not enjoyable, is it? Everyone experiences times when something happens beyond their control, making it seem terrible. It can occur when your spouse is diagnosed with cancer, a friend dies in a plane crash, or someone close is hurt severely in an accident. Each of these has happened to me.

When you contrast those terrible times with terrific times, you find the other side of life: great joy. These times can include when you met your spouse and fell in love, married, bought that first home, had children, got that promotion, or accomplished a dream. Who doesn’t wish for more times like these?

You don’t have to live long to experience good and bad times. The real question is, do you make the most of each? Do you allow yourself to feel the depths of despair and the heights of joy? How can you know the extent of one without the other?

“Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832)

I recently ran across the words of an American editor, writer, advertising executive, and business theorist who brought this subject to life for me.

“If we are ever to enjoy life, now is the time — not tomorrow, nor next year, nor in some future life after we have died.

The best preparation for a better life next year is a full, complete, harmonious, joyous life this year.

Our beliefs in a rich future life are of little importance unless we coin them into a rich present life.

Today should always be our most wonderful day.” Thomas Dreier (1884 –1976)

Some of us get so busy trying to build a good future we forget to enjoy the life we are living now! When we do not enjoy, appreciate, and take in the present moment, we miss a huge opportunity that will benefit us later.

The more we enjoy the present moment, the more we enjoy the next. The more we enjoy this day, the more we enjoy the days ahead. And yes, this also goes for weeks, months, and years!

A lesson some of us have learned is that anything, even anything that is good, can be overdone and hurt us. While planning for and focusing on future outcomes is good, we mustn’t overdo it.

I love how Dreier says, “Our beliefs in a rich future life are of little importance unless we coin them into a rich present life.” What if we took these words literally? What if we coined each day? We would have something to remember them by!

Coining today for a better future

While we can’t physically make a coin out of a day, I have found a way to use a coin to remind me of the days I enjoy a “rich present life.” Such days of enjoyment happen when my wife and I spend quality time together, especially on vacations. Or when I go out on the lake and enjoy the solitude. Then, there are other times when I feel grateful and appreciative of my life.

I looked for coins I could purchase for a little experiment but found nothing that would work. I had imagined using a physical coin to memorialize each joy-filled day. Then it hit me! Why not use pennies? At 100 for a dollar, you can’t beat the price!

When I enjoy a “full, complete, harmonious, joyous life,” I place a penny on my desk as a reminder at the end of each day.

Going through the month counting the days filled with joy is easy. Sadly, I had a slow start finding such days. Too many of them tend to be busy, and while I enjoy what I do, busy and joy-filled are not the same in my mind. Of course, how we measure our days is subjective, and I tend to be harder on myself than I need to be, but I have several pennies in a stack on my desk after a few weeks.

So far, I am averaging one and sometimes two coins weekly if I am lucky, so I have some distance to go! But hey, at least I’ve started. Why not give it a try? I’d love to hear your results!

How to enjoy life today

While I am still learning to enjoy my life more fully each day, I want to share some of what I am doing. I aim to live out what Dreier says — “Today should always be our most wonderful day.”

The first thing to work on is our attitude. To learn more about how to do this, check out this short article: Change That Attitude! As a favorite author and motivational speaker used to say:

“It’s your attitude not your aptitude, that determines your altitude.” Zig Ziglar (1926–2012)

The next thing to work on, the most crucial, is learning to appreciate more in life. Everyone has more than one thing they can appreciate, but how often do you stop to appreciate them? If you are like me, not nearly enough!

For me, appreciation starts with my faith, my wife, family, and friends, our home on the lake, our community, and the resources to live in retirement. Because of some past medical issues, I am especially grateful for my health and my wife’s health. I also appreciate life’s many conveniences, which we have more today than most in history could have even dreamed. I could go on and on, but I hope you get the point. Appreciation creates great feelings, a positive attitude, and a good life in numerous ways!

To experience the joy appreciation brings, I do my best to tell my wife something I appreciate about her daily. I often ask for a hug afterward to cement the feeling. This one thing has changed my life dramatically!

Another way to find more enjoyment is to force yourself to slow down. Instead of rushing through life and missing much of it, you can enjoy life more and become more effective by slowing down. You can learn more about slowing down and its many benefits in this short article: Gain More in Life by Slowing Down.

“Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast — you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.” Eddie Cantor (1892–1964)

As you slow down, you can begin to practice one of the more effective ways to learn to enjoy life — mindfulness. You can choose to rush through life in an almost mindless way. Or you can choose to become more deliberate and mindful. Which would you prefer?

Mindfulness is not some weird, mystical, spiritual thing. Mindfulness is practical and is a way to become more aware in the present moment. It is simple to learn and practice and an excellent way to bring forth more joy and experience it in greater depth.

As exercise is to your body, mindfulness is to your mind. Why not learn this simple way to exercise your awareness? There are many ways to practice mindfulness, and you can find plenty of them online, or you can check out this short article: You Can Take Control of Your Day.

Final thoughts

Dreier opened my busy mind to a new understanding of something I was aware of but was not practicing effectively. To know and not do produces zero results. To know and do, well, you get the picture!

Why not join me on this journey of preparing for a better life by coining each, living a rich present life so that you can live an extraordinary, joy-filled future? You deserve nothing less!

“Carpe diem! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullest; make the most of what you have. It is later than you think.” Horace (65–8 BC)

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Bill Abbate Leadership Writer and Editor in ILLUMINATION

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