Loving the Life You're Living

Love the life you live.
Live the life you love.
Bob Marley

by Skip Cohen

Sunday Morning Reflections started years ago as a series of posts in which, once a week, with your help, I run amuck on the regular topics of business and marketing. It's my time to share something that's hopefully relevant to you, my readers.

Bob Marley's quote above might seem incredibly trite, but it carries with it a reminder that life isn't a dress rehearsal, but time to let your heart soar. And if your heart just isn't in the game, you can't live the kind of life you want.

Here's a great example, and it pushes the envelope of getting personal about my life, things the "experts" say you shouldn't post about: It's no secret that I'm estranged from my family. There's virtually no contact - and while the reasons aren't important here, the foundation is all seated in horrible communication. And while I have regrets, years ago I had to make a choice - live my best life or spend all my time being a right-fighter.

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else.
You are the one who gets burned.
Buddha

At some point, thanks to Sheila, some incredible friends, a little therapy, and two pups, I realized that playing the role of the last angry man was accomplishing nothing except holding me back from living a life I loved. They say that with age comes wisdom. But wisdom is the result of all our experiences, and being angry all the time is one of the repetitious acts that accomplishes nothing. 

I learned to let it all go—not that I still don't have a short fuse on certain topics, but being happy is a life choice. I'm still a work in progress, but life is simply too short. As you age, your ability to focus on what's truly important changes—you don't let yourself get distracted by things that take you off the path you want to travel the most.

Here's my point: If you're living with resentments, let them go. You're only hurting yourself, and like a patient with tunnel vision, your peripheral view is restricted—you're missing everything there is to see and feel along life's journey. 

Wishing all of you a day ahead that's jam-packed with the things and people you love the most. Make a few new memories with the people most important to you. If you've been holding onto anger/resentment, let it go - you don't have to forget what started it, just forgive. You can't live the life you love if you're buried in a lot of emotional pollution...and it takes a lot of chlorine to clean up the "swamp."

Go for those eleven-second therapeutic hugs I always write about with the people most special in your life. And as my Dad loved to say, "Illegitimi non carborundum" - "Don't let the bastards grind you down!"

Happy Sunday or Monday if you're on the other side of the world.