LIFE IS PLUSES MINUS MINUSES
Let's make this very simple. I live life because it has more plus values than minus values for me.
Life itself is highly "net positive." Of course, I can create more minuses, but those are all created only in my mind unnecessarily, and are based on false beliefs (which I have the power to remove).
BAD BALANCE?
If I am feeling otherwise, then it is simply because I am not looking at the pluses enough and getting caught up in, and creating, the minuses. The minuses are mostly of our own doing and can be "let go of", with the proper training. (Basically, if there are a lot of minuses, then you're doing the same thing a depressive is and you've got to start shifting by not allowing any negatives to be entertained, such as in the piece Depressive Talk - Handling Right Now , and then by replacing the untrue statements (beliefs) and/or dumping those activities that keep giving you problems.) We need to remove all that is in the way. (In Living The 80-20 Way, we find we can drop over 40% of our less impactful and/or more costly activities - and end up being better off!)
People don't feel the value of life when they are struggling for some other objective, from enough money to proving oneself, having to be loved, worthy, worrying about the future... all of which are droppable or modifiable, down to a total of minuses that can be really small. Correcting false values and beliefs are part of what this website is about. (For those who are too out of touch with what life offers, use the Depression program, even if you don't feel you're quite there, as it applies to anybody in a "down" mood.)
THE PLUSES
There are so many. I would recommend you simply review the small portion (100's) of the 1000's in the Gratitude section that should be enough. Link into that section immediately after reading this!
Assuming there is no noble purpose you have identified, live is worth living just for the experience of it. Yes, mostly for the positives, that's true.
We depend on the wrong things to give us "pluses" in the future, using the "I'll be
Many of the "experience" pluses are like those of the gratitudes:
Petting a cat
Eating ice cream (Of course, we want to remember the long term balancing, so not
too much of a minus is created later!)
An orgasm
The sun (Having it reliably available, too)
Remembering good experiences
Others are simply those things we can enjoy when we let go of our "have to's" and tight schedules:
Read pleasurable books, watch pleasurable movies/tv
Helping people
Going to things where there is people enjoyment
There are also those "special" feelings:
Achievement
Creation/creativity
Flow
Joy
Poignant moments
And then there is just plain Happiness. Learn those practices that produce happiness, and you'll never wonder again about the reasons to live!
SOME GREAT PRACTICES THAT LEAD ONE TO EXPERIENCE THE REASONS
Meditation, visualizations
I like breathing, the feeling of a deep, clean breath..
Laughing
ACTIVITIES THAT SEEM TO GENERATE ENJOYMENT OR OTHER POSITIVE FEELINGS
Learning a foreign language, chess, bridge, a college subject
Learning more about oneself and one's psyche and how to get more out of life
Adventure
THE SENSES AND RELATED
Feeling, seeing, touching, tasting, smelling, hearing
Art, music, beauty
Tasty food, wine
AFFIRMATIONS
Life is good.
There are plenty of ways to be happy.
I can also let go of the extras that are causing me grief.
I choose to be happy and do happy things.
I choose to nurture and soothe myself.
I choose to treat myself with kindness and compassion.
LINK INTO THE Gratitude SECTION and thoroughly ground yourself in gratitude!!!!!
