Does your life bring you energy… or drain you of it?

Last week I did a flying three day trip from Australia to the US to do a keynote at a  conference. Tomorrow I head to Sydney to do a segment on a daily talk show. Next week I take my kids to Nepal for two weeks. But not before about one hundred and one other things.

Aggghhh… life is busy. Good busy. But busy. I’m guessing yours is also.

The question is not about whether you or I are busy, but what are we so busy about?

Helen Keller once said, “Life is a daring adventure or nothing.”  One day I’m going to die. So will you.  Too often we forget that little fact as live our lives by default. rather than by design.

When you are living a life that inspires you, it taps into reserves of energy you otherwise can’t access. The very word inspire comes from the Latin – to breath life into – to give life.  I feel more alive when I’m doing stuff that excites me, even if it does demand a pretty intense juggling act.  I figure that whatever balls I drop, my kids can pick up and throw then at each other.  As I walked my nine year old son Matthew to school this morning, he reminded me that he is going on camp tomorrow but not to worry, he’s got everything packed and ready to go.  When I got home I checked his bag to find seven t-shirts, two pairs a short, a rain jacket,  his tooth brush and no undies. I guess he figured he wouldn’t change them anyway. Smart kid I say.

Before you caste any judgement on my parenting skills (I figure I’m great at teaching self-reliance), I encourage you to take a moment to think about what it is that truly energizes and inspires you. More so, what would need to be different in your work, your relationships, your family and your life that would positively shift your experience of it?

I’m excited about exploring Nepal with my family which has been on my bucket list for decades.  I know that whatever sights and experiences await my family and me, they are going to be as memorable as they are magical. While a week vacation lazing by a resort pool would also have been nice, exploring cultures and lands totally different to my own excites me far more.

So what fills your cup and infuses your days with life, and your  life with energy?

Now is the perfect time to make a fresh commitment to living a life that inspires you, so that one day, when you look back on your life that was, you can feel really good that you lived it to the full, and filled your days and years with things that brought you life and love.