Make sure you are spending your time, energy, care and concern on the things
that really deserve it, the things that will help you live and thrive as the truest you.

You will be happy you did.

Simple Truth #7: Loosen Up

Many of us take life too seriously and make things way more complicated on ourselves and in our relationships than they need to be.

Does this sound like you? If not, you’re one of the lucky ones who has already figured out some really important stuff.

When we take life too seriously, we can lose sight of who we are and how we truly want to show up in our lives. In this, the last of the 7 Simple Truths, I am simply going to leave you with some things to consider when it comes to Loosening Up in your life.

And FYI, Loosening Up isn’t about pushing responsibilities aside but about finding the right way to fulfill responsibilities and meet commitments in a healthy and REAL manner.

Here are a few ideas to help you Loosen Up:

• Let go of perfection — strive for excellence instead. Excellence is achievable; perfection is not.

• Don’t take life too seriously or others actions too personally — most people aren’t thinking about you when they make choices about how they will act or react. Our actions and reactions are usually driven by our own “stuff,” not somebody else’s. It’s the same for everyone else.

• Give yourself & others a break — give people the benefit of the doubt and don’t judge yourself and others so harshly. Try a little tweaking of your perspective in those situations where you might typically jump to judgment. Look for the whole truth and see if that lightens things up a little.

• Have faith — have faith in yourself, have faith in other people and have faith in a higher power. For me, I’ve got all three, and I’m thankful every day that something so much bigger and smarter and more real than me is ultimately in charge.

• Accentuate the positive — instead of automatically going to the negative in a situation, try focusing on the positive, looking for the silver lining (one almost always exists), assuming the best in the situation and in others. Trust me. It takes a lot less energy than focusing on the negative.

This is definitely just a short list, as it doesn’t include so many other important things we can do in our lives to loosen up a little and not take things, people and life so seriously. Just off the top of my head here are a few more to leave you with: have some good-old fashioned fun, play, laugh at yourself, try something for the first time, take a risk, go for a walk, and appreciate the simplest pleasures and treasures in life.

What do you do when you need to loosen up a little, not take things, other people or yourself so seriously? Do you have some favorites you’d be willing to share? Leave them in the comments below!

In closing:

This is the last post in our “Wanna Get Real?” series on the 7 Simple Truths for Getting Real & Staying Real. I’m so glad you stuck around and hope you’ve found some great nuggets here that created some “aha” moments for you or maybe made you say, “I never really thought of it that way.” Take those with you and start getting real and creating a life that honors the truest you.

Wanna remember where “Wanna Get Real?” started? Check out the first post in the series here.