Sleep when you're dead

You may have heard the phrase, "no rest for the living." This refers to the shared belief that people experience joy in being alive yet, shudder at its related miseries.  Many people get bogged down with fatigue they associate with growing old.  Do you overlook wisdom that comes and enables the mature to live with ease?  What you choose to see relates to how you see goals.

1) Personal life: whenever you feel restless, you may feel alienated with reality.  Get in touch with your feelings.  Determine how different people you know and have known make you feel.  Contact and renew old acquaintances that enriched you. Focus on developing relationships that encourage and stretch you.  Distance yourself from the people who aren't enabling you to grow.

2) Work life: if your mind is inconclusive or unfocused, you may feel indecisive.  Work doesn't have to seem like a struggle.  Maybe you assume rewards only result from struggles.  The Western view toward life promotes activity.  You may feel a need to prove yourself, to leave your mark.  To do this, you must identify what you desire in short and long terms.  The Eastern view toward life promotes neither activity nor inactivity, but action through inaction. In this way, you may feel drawn to cooperate with the flow of nature and opportunities.  Either way, you "shall" act.

3) Spiritual life: to exist, you are on a personal journey.  It's your task to define the parameters.  If you seek to be an authentic individual, you will benefit from taking steps to get-to-know yourself on the inside.  This mayaor may not involve exploring religion.  In order to discover your true nature, you need to learn not to be bothered or highly influenced by people or your surroundings.  How do you do that?  Learn to meditate.  Ponder your thoughts and reflections. Explore your creative potential in writing.  Read books and listen to tapes that encourage spiritual awakenings.

4) Leisure pursuits: as a way to promote self-discovery, it's helpful to learn to listen to yourself.  What you think you would like or dislike is to be explored.  What do your senses tell you?  Growth comes through being true to yourself.  That means going out for a sports team, taking a language class, upgrading your sailing skills, training for a marathon, joining a bird watching club or yoga group. Take up whatever activities spark your curiosity and inspire your imagination. To isolate choices, brainstorm 5 interests.  Look into options to join at least one new group.

5) Dreams:  these are the goals which may seem a bit further off. What you hope to achieve may not be realisable tomorrow, but its important to write a list and keep that list somewhere where you can see and read it regularly, such as a fridge or bedroom night-table. As you identify 5-10 objects and experiences to work toward, then you can begin to define desirable timelines and what ideas you have to make them happen.  This will be an organized, step-by-step process.