Tumblr isn’t a place to go for great online tips about cleaning your bathtub or even to hear unbiased news from top sources. It is, however, a place for inspiration, blogging ideas, and community. I’ve been making an effort lately to live in the present, because I think present tense living is the key to happiness and appreciation for the world around you. I don’t usually use Tumblr for great life tips, but when these tips came across my dashboard, I couldn’t think of any better great life tips in the world.
Great Life Tips
1. Push yourself to get up before the rest of the world. Start with 7:00, then 6:00, then 5:30. Go to the nearest hill with a big coat and a scarf and watch the sun rise.
2. Push yourself to fall asleep earlier – start with 11:00, then 10:00, then 9:00. Wake up in the morning feeling re-energized and comfortable.
3. Erase processed food from your diet. Start with no candy, chips, or cookies, then erase pasta, rice, cereal, and bread. Use the rule that if a child couldn’t identify what was in it, you don’t eat it.
4. Get into the habit of cooking yourself a beautiful breakfast. Fry tomatoes and mushrooms in real butter and garlic, fry an egg, slice up a fresh avocado and squirt way too much lemon on it. Sit and eat it and do nothing else.
5. Stretch every morning. Start by reaching for the sky as hard as you can, then trying to touch your toes. Roll your head. Stretch your fingers. Stretch everything.
6. Buy a 1L water bottle. Start with pushing yourself to drink the whole thing in a day, then try drinking it twice.
7. Buy a beautiful diary and a beautiful black pen. Write down everything you do, including dinner dates, appointments, assignments, coffees, and what you need to do that day. No detail is too small.
8. Strip your bed of your sheets and empty your underwear drawer into the washing machine. Put a massive scoop of scented fabric softener in there and wash. Make your bed in full.
9. Have a luxurious shower with your favorite music playing. Wash your hair, scrub your body, brush your teeth. Lather your whole body in moisturizer. Get familiar with the parts between your toes, your inner thighs, and the back of your neck.
10. Push yourself to go for a walk. Take your headphones, go to the beach, and walk. Smile at strangers walking the other way and be surprised how many smile back. Bring your dog and observe the dog’s behavior. Realize you can learn from your dog.
11. Think long and hard about what interests you. Crime? Boarding school? Long-forgotten romance etiquette? Find a book about it and read it. There is a book about literally everything.
12. Become the person you would ideally fall in love with. Let cars merge into your lane when driving. Pay double for parking tickets and leave a second one in the machine. Stick your tongue out at babies. Compliment people on their cute clothes. Challenge yourself to not ridicule anyone for a whole day. Then two. Then a week. Walk with a straight posture. Look people in the eye. Ask people about their story. Talk to acquaintances so they become friends.
These great life tips were an inspiration for me. I’m going to try to start making them habits, a week at a time, and I’m inviting you to join me! If we can all make ourselves a little happier and a little healthier, we’ll be on our way to a happier, healthier world! See this link for more references: presenttensemagazine.org