Article: One reason you may not feel that your life is enriching is because you believe that you’re not doing enough to achieve your potential. You may feel like the rewards can’t come soon enough and that you won’t be truly happy until you’ve found a better job, found your soulmate, or found your dream home; however, you should know that these things will come and that you’ll get where you need to be if you keep working hard.  Focus on achieving small goals and know that you can choose to feel happy and fulfilled any time you want. You don’t need to feel like a failure or a loser just because you haven’t gotten where you’ve wanted to go quite yet. Make a list of all of the things you’ve accomplished and that you’re proud of. You’ll see that you’ve been working hard along the way and that you should already feel fulfilled and happy with yourself. Making an effort to be grateful for all of the things you have can make you live a more enriching life. Take the time to appreciate all of the things that you may have been taking for granted, from your friends and family to your health, or even the amazing climate in the place where you live. Though it sounds corny, remembering how many people there are who are less fortunate than you are and being thankful for what you have instead of bemoaning what you lack can make you live a more enriching and happier life.  Make a gratitude list at least once a week. Write down every little thing you’re thankful for and then tape this list above your desk or keep it in your wallet. When you’re feeling down, read over the list to remind yourself of all of the great things you have going for you. Take the time to thank people, from your waitress to your mother, for all they have done for you. Look for opportunities to express gratitude and to let people know that what they do for you really does matter. You’ll never live an enriching life if you spend all of your time trying to keep up with the Joneses. Don’t try to compare your relationship, your body, your house, or anything else you possess to what other people have, or you’ll always come up short. There will always be people who have something “better” than you do—just like there will always be people who are far worse off—and you’ll never be able to live your life on your own terms if you only care about comparing yourself to everyone around you.  Remember that what’s great for your neighbor or your best friend may not be the best for you. Focus on doing what you need to make your life better and learn to shut out the other voices. Spending hours on Facebook can lead you to feel that your life, relationship, vacations, or family aren’t nearly as good as everyone else’s. If spending a lot of time on social media makes you feel inadequate about your own life, just stop. If you’re in a serious relationship, focus on doing what’s right for you based on your own timeline instead of trying to move in together, get engaged, or get married based on another couple’s standards. Of course, it can be easier said than done to stop caring about what other people think of you completely. However, you can start to make an effort to do what’s best for you instead of what you think will make other people think you’re gorgeous, successful, savvy, or interesting. In the end, the best thing you can do is to make yourself happy, and if you do that, you’ll be able to drown out the noise anyway.  The best way to live an enriching life is to improve yourself and to feel good about the choices you make. If you do this, it won’t matter if people think you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread. Learn to follow your heart. If you want to study theatre instead of law, which is what your parents want, learn to accept that your life will be more enriching if you follow your dreams. Another way to live a more enriching life is to stop caring about doing everything perfectly all the time. You should be comfortable with making mistakes and learning from them instead of with getting everything right on the first try. Sure, your life will feel a lot safer if you continue to make easy choices without messing up, but it will be far more rewarding and enriching if you’re comfortable with taking the wrong path sometimes, knowing that it will lead you to the right one.  If you’re too focused on being perfect, then you won’t have time to step back and enjoy your life on its own terms, mistakes and all. Once you accept that you’ll never be 100% right all the time, you’ll be able to make much more interesting choices. If you really want to create meaningful bonds with people, then you have to let them see who you really are, flaws and all. If you want everyone to see you as this perfect person with no vulnerabilities, then people won’t feel like they can ever really open up to you or trust you. If you spend your whole life racing toward a goal, you’ll never be able to appreciate all of the little moments of joy along the way. You’ll also inevitably feel disappointed once you do reach that goal, whether it’s to make partner at your law firm or to get married. If you want to live an enriching life and to enjoy every moment of it, then you have to stop and remember to be proud of or grateful for every little step you take along the way.  You don’t want to look back on your life and wonder where all of those years went. Make an effort to live in the moment instead of always thinking ahead to the future, and you’ll be able to live a much more fulfilling, enjoyable life. Make more of an effort to do things “just because.” Not every step you take or person you meet has to help you become more successful. Besides, if you’re never spontaneous, who knows how many opportunities you may miss out on over the course of your life. This may seem like a daunting task, but if you really want to live a more enriching life, then you can’t just go through the motions; you have to find the thing that makes your life worth living. Your purpose doesn’t have to be to succeed in some fancy, challenging career, either; it can be to help other people achieve their goals, to raise your children in a supportive environment, to write fiction even if you’ll never make money doing it, or just to do whatever it is you were meant to do.  If you feel like you’ve just been going through the motions and don’t really know what your life’s purpose is, then it’s worth it to take some time to slow down and do some soul-searching and to try new things in order to find it. Remember that it’s never too late. It’s okay if you don’t find an all-consuming purpose to give your life meaning. Just making an effort to steer your life in the direction of something that means a lot to you can make a big difference.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Be patient with yourself. Show more gratitude. Stop comparing yourself to others. Quit caring what people think. Be less of a perfectionist. Focus on the journey. Find your purpose.