WRITING YOUR ZESTFUL LIFE STORY
Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? Writing a zestful life story? Sounds like it might even be fun. Like many things in life, it is - until we over-complicate it. Or, forget we’re even the ones writing the script. We get busy doing life as it comes to us, then suddenly, find ourselves living an unscripted version that doesn’t reflect any of the things we’d hoped it would. That doesn’t mean our life is devoid of meaning or love or purpose, but rather that it may benefit from a little more engagement and intention. Sometimes your current life story needs only a bit of refinement to include the latest adjustments to your desires. No matter what you’re living, it’s never wrong if you’re drawing growth from it.
Truly inspired creativity has a pathway to come through when we look objectively at our lives as a whole, blank page. An entire story to be written. Scripting your own life story can also be daunting if you don’t know how to get started. It is annoying, exciting, frustrating, empowering and also, freeing when we realize we have the capacity to create our own reality. Not just have the capacity, but that we are actively creating it as we speak. As we write, think, complain, praise, curse, play victim, express gratitude, and everything in between. Every thought, every word, every emotion, every action is contributing to the story you’re currently living.
No wonder true joy and satisfaction elude so many people. Taking hold of those reigns is no simple task, and certainly not for the faint of heart. However, a small dose of courage in key moments is all it takes to align your intention and creativity and weave something beautiful from them. The truth is, no one else can do it for us. We are innately and uniquely empowered to design the life we want to lead.
So, how do you stop the tilt-a-whirl long enough to gain your bearings and create this life story intentionally? First and foremost, it’s important to take stock of where you are. What are you currently experiencing and how satisfying is it? How would you rate your satisfaction on a scale of one to ten with ten being the most satisfied in love, health, wealth, career, family, body, friendships, fun factor, and anything else of importance to you? Take a hard look, even at things you’d prefer not to see. Elements that are serving your highest good and elements that are not. Be honest with yourself about which category each element fits into. Pause to notice patterns and pathways that have moved you toward or away from elements that work.
Once you get real about where you are and how you’re contributing to the creation of that life story, you can start to refine both your conscious and subconscious ask.
An easy way to begin is by answering some simple questions:
How do you want to feel?
What kind of relationships do you want in your life?
What types of things do you want to experience?
Where do you want to go?
How would you like to contribute to the world?
What do you enjoy doing?
How do you enjoy spending your time?
This blank-canvas thinking can be difficult as our tendency is to work within the context of what we already have or think we deserve. Little by little, expectations from family, community, or society can steer us one degree away from where we dreamed we would go, widening the berth of that departure as time passes. What if you sat all of that aside and started fresh, claiming a new story by design? Ask yourself what type of story you’d like to be living in your career. In your marriage. In your physical health. In any other area of life.
Then get to work on one of these. Which one? It truly does not matter which one. If you sit for a moment and are fully present with your list, there is likely one that is reaching for you, too, in that moment. Listen, allow. Then dive in. What does it look and feel like to be living in your ideal body, enjoying life with your ideal partner, and making an impact through a business or career you love? And how does that rate in comparison to your current story?
Finally, begin the alignment process with that new story. Dream it up, write it down, read it aloud, record it to listen to. Be fully present with it in as many forms as possible. If when reading or hearing it you still find yourself cringing with disbelief, set a slightly scaled-back intention/affirmation, instead, until you can accept it wholly and with an emotion of true gratitude. Then, kick it up a notch until that new story feels like your story whether it’s come to full physical fruition yet or not.
Writing a zestful life story has been the premise for Elan Vitae Magazine since its inception. It was created with the intention of leaning into the humanness of each of us. Allowing the chuckle, the grace, the patience we all deserve when playing out our lessons, whether it be through love, work, family, health, wealth or any other of the plethora of vehicles we learn them through. The highest art of creating comes in the form of designing a life you love. If the pages of Elan Vitae Magazine have provided inspiration, entertainment, education, or at the very least have been a contemplative pause for you, we're honored to be a small part of your journey.
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