Mastering the Mundane

Life can be pretty mundane sometimes. 

I know, my pessimist is showing. As a glass half full kind of girl, I truly don’t mean to start this blog off on such a negative tone. Although, I do feel like sometimes you get so caught up in and concerned with your day-to-day life that the days become ordinary and practical. It seems that this is a feeling most people, if not all, can relate to- especially adults. The older I get and the more time I let pass in the mundanity of it all, I realize the only way to bring excitement to your live is to actively seek it out. 

A few weeks ago, I found myself going through an unfamiliar emotion. I felt like my days were passing me by. Like I was going through the motions of my day-to-day without intention leaving me unexplainably, unfulfilled. As someone who usually fills their time with one too many activities, this is not something I was used to feeling. I couldn’t pinpoint where this craving for excitement or feeling of needing a change was coming from. I was still filling my days with the same activities, still on track to excel in my career, and then it hit me. Of course I am living life, but am I really living life?

After recent realization, I strongly believe part of getting older is recognizing that you truly are in charge of your own happiness. You are in charge of the way you feel, the way you react, the things you choose to surround yourself with, even the way you choose to think. Of course, there are those inevitable outliers that negatively effect and impact the way we feel, react and think. Sometimes it’s even out of our control, but ultimately, we are in charge of being who we want to be. Unfortunately, in that case, we are our own worst enemies.

If people felt better by initiating change to spark excitement, then why isn’t that something we actively do each day? If the sun provides Vitamin D, increasing serotonin levels, why do people stay inside all day? If reading a good book can alleviate stress through escapism, why are libraries closing down? Why does it take us to feel so uncomfortable, so unhappy, so empty to learn how to feel good? Happiness directly correlates with our thoughts and actions, so why not actively choose to feel better? People always believe that joy is the source of a smile, but what about a smile being your source of joy? The saying “fake it tell you make it”  holds some sort of truth, or it would have never been spoken into existence.

Personally, I couldn’t take one more day of feeling like something was missing. I felt like I wasn’t grasping at the opportunities around me, continuing to delay new experiences on my to do list.  Instead of just marinating in my own fog, I started writing down the things that I wanted to do. Positive activities that would stimulate and provide my brain the refresh it needed.

I narrowed down my overwhelming and unrealistic large list I had created and decided on one thing that I thought encompassed everything I was looking for into one: the piano. I picked up the piano and although it’s proving to be much more difficult than I had originally planned, it has worked to eliminate that mundane feelings. It has proven to be therapeutic even through the frustration and has shown me that I can take control of my own life’s narrative. It has sparked new excitement, self-determination and serious motivation. Three things I wasn’t even sure I was was lacking.