Friday 23 March 2018

What do you want?

This may seem like a simple question to answer, but it’s actually the most difficult.
In less than sixty seconds answer the following question. What do you want in life? I want you to include an answer for each of the following: what do you want in business/career, your personal life, within your passions/hobbies and health.

Very few can answer this question with much detail in less than a minute. The primary reason is because it’s not a very common question. When was the last time you were asked this question? Exactly. The second reason is due to not knowing yourself well enough to confidently answer it. Either way, if you can’t answer this question in less than sixty seconds, with a clear perspective on what you truly want, then you definitely need to strengthen your happiness muscle.
I want your focus to be less materialistic and more heartfelt when dealing with this exercise. A morbidly great way to find the type of happiness you’re looking for is by writing your own eulogy.

Exercise: What do you want people to say about you at your funeral?
Fortunately, to this date, I haven’t been to too many funerals. I rarely feel comfortable at funerals, to be honest. When I was younger my body would clam up as soon as I walked into the funeral parlour because it was tough to adjust to all the different emotions floating around the room. After my favorite Aunt passed away I realized that death is just a part of reality. I knew I needed to learn to live with it. One of the easiest ways at looking at death, I found, is by looking at the hearty life they lived while they were alive. For this exercise I want you to imagine yourself at your own funeral.
Imagine yourself waking up in the morning. You’re lying still in your bed quietly absorbing the peaceful environment. The room is silent, not a peep is heard. It’s as though your senses are mostly impaired, but life to you feels good. As you lay there you hear a male voice through a microphone, but you can’t quite distinguish who is speaking. Shortly after, your vision becomes clearer and you stare at the ceiling above. It looks different though – something you’re not used to seeing. You soon realize you’re in a different building altogether. You start smelling candles burning. The aroma of burning wax fills the air. As you continue to lay there motionless you become a part of the moment. Some would say you’re living in the moment – absorbing everything your senses take in. You decide to turn your head to the side. As you do, you notice a packed audience of two or three hundred people. Most of which are your closest friends and family members. The rest are acquaintances and distant relatives. It doesn’t take you long to realize you’re in a casket in a familiar local church, at your own funeral. At that moment a million things run through your mind. Images of all your loved ones flash before you. You question yourself; wondering if you gave your life your all. Hoping you spent enough quality time with your kids, and put enough in them before you passed away. As your judgement is clouded with questioning, the words spoken through the pa system vibrate into your mindset. You soon realize the person speaking through the microphone is your brother, father, or someone significant in your life. You hear his/her words, and they’re filled with love, respect and appreciation. A smile runs from ear-to-ear.
What words do you hear?

This exercise includes your imagination and a lot of it. As you’re lying in your casket listening to the words through the microphone imagine what the overall message is saying. Be the script writer, and be the author of your own eulogy. What would you want others to say about you at your own funeral?
Imagine your funeral details. Who is present? What are they wearing? What kind of snacks are they serving? In fact, step outside of your casket and be a ghost at your own funeral. Walk around the audience and see their reactions to the words through the pa system. The more detailed you get the more practical this strategy becomes. The more you visualize something the more real it becomes.