How To Live Life To The Fullest

姜波

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” —Mark Twain

You only live once， and life is very short. Its easy to look at people who are happy and know they dont understand your pain. The older you get， the more you realize that happiness takes work. People who smile in public have been through every bit as much as people who cry， frown， scream， etc. They just have the courage and strength to smile through it anyway. So how do you know youre living life to the fullest？ Here are some tips to help you out：

Decide whats important to you.

It doesnt matter what it is. Dont do what you think people want you to do. Your parents， friends， community， and society in general all have their opinions， but at the end of the day， youre the only person who will be around for every moment of your life. Do what makes you happy. Everything else will fall into place.

Take risks... a lot of them.

Sometimes theres danger in life， but every success carries risk with it. If you never take risks， youll never get anywhere in life. When people look back on their lives， they regret the chances they didnt take more than the ones they did.

Tell people you love them.

Family will always be thankful for hearing you love them. It will brighten a strangers day. Just go for everything. There are a lot of ways it may end， and only one of them keeps them in your life forever. Just go for it. You have nothing to lose.

Live in the present.

Your past is important to learn from. Your future is important to work towards. At the end of the day， though， the only thing outside of your head is the present. So think about your past and future， but only live on the present.

Face failures.

No matter what you decide to do with your life， there will always be someone around to point out the many ways youll fail. Know that every winner loses， but not every loser wins. Successful people dont start out successful. What makes them successful is that they keep pushing through failure.

Dont change your ideas about your values.

If something doesnt feel right， dont do it. Life doesnt work like a movie. Its filled with gray areas. Trust your instincts. Do whatever you want so long as you can look yourself in the mirror.

Do kind acts for others.

Every day， youll see someone who could use help. Its easy to look at a homeless person on the street and think， “I wish I could help him.” What will happen if you do？ If you gave $1 to that homeless person every day， youd be out $365 a year if you worked every day. It doesnt take much.

Keep your mind open.

Just because youre right about something doesnt mean there arent other ways to look at it. Listening to ideas you dont agree with or understand keeps your brain active and healthy.

Speak through your actions.

Youll hear people say， “I had that idea，” every time you see someone create something great. Everyone had the idea for Facebook first. The reason Mark Zuckerberg got rich off of it is because he went out and did it while everyone else was talking about it. Ideas are useless if you dont act on them.

Vocabulary

frown v. 皱眉

community n. 社团

instinct n. 直觉

姜 波 改编