Small, practical, free experiments designed to help improve your mood and expand your life--whether you're recovering from depression, surviving a crisis, or just wanting to open up new horizons.
Try them and see which ones work best for you--and please report back in the comments, to tell me about your experiences with these suggestions.


Click here for my psychotherapy website.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Make A 'Bucket List' of Fun 'Must Do's'

The practice
A 'bucket list' is a list of things you want to do before you die. Make one now, and then start taking steps to do the things on it. Don't forget the small things, and don't edit out the big ones by telling yourself they're impossible.

Some questions to help:
- What do you dream of doing?
- What are you jealous of other people for?
- What makes you happy?
- What do your happiest memories have in common, and how can you have more of those kinds of experiences?
- What would you like more (or less) of, in your life?

The theory
Firstly, it's all too easy in a busy life to put the fun things off till later--and then never get around to them. A list of your heart's desires can help you to make sure you're prioritising--or taking steps towards prioritising--stuff that you enjoy, rather than leaving the things that call to you to one side.

But there's a deeper side to this too. As Gregg Levov points out in his book 'CALLINGS: Finding and Following an Authentic Life', our true calling makes itself known to us via the things we long for. Only by following the small calls of our heart can we find our true selves.

The results
For the small print on how doing this can restore your soul and re-energize your life, read or watch 'Eat, Pray, Love'!

No comments:

Post a Comment