All for What? Evaluate Your Life Day

Mark your calendars. October 19th is National Evaluate Your Life Day. Didn't know there was such a thing? Me neither, until a colleague forwarded a list of off-beat holidays you can celebrate in October.
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Mark your calendars. October 19th is National Evaluate Your Life Day. Didn't know there was such a thing? Me neither, until a colleague forwarded a list of off-beat holidays you can celebrate in October.

As a side note, October also boasts National Cat Day, National Hagfish Day, and National Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work Day in case you need some teddy time at the office. But I digress.....

At first blush, National Evaluate Your Life Day seemed like nothing more than an opportunity to rib my colleague about her need for such a day. But then it began to grow on me. In fact, I almost think it could be as important as an actual holiday like Thanksgiving (another introspective holiday, with phenomenal food thrown in the mix).

I got to thinking, in a world surrounded by overworked, stressed out, always on people, shouldn't we all be celebrating this day? Think about the things you evaluate:
  • Your wardrobe (at least you should)
  • Your finances (Does the checkbook really have to balance?)
  • Your job performance (Ok, someone else does, but you're supposed to weigh in, right?)

But how often do you actually sit down and evaluate your life? I'm talking your whole life, all aspects. I'm guessing not very often.

Yet I talk to so many people who aren't happy with their life. They feel run down, out of touch with themselves and others, and heads down working their tails off to make ends meet.

But as a friend of mine recently asked, "For what?" She was telling me about the conversation she and her husband had recently about how hard they were both working and how little they saw each other as a result. They both had to stop and ask themselves "For what?"

What's Your Point?
There's a cool new recruiting firm in Minneapolis called The Point. They place people looking for positions that are less than 40 hours a week.

The whole company evolved from a conversation the owner had with her husband about how much of our lives we devote to work, and they both said "What's the point?" Their mission now is to help people identify and live out their "point" by finding a job that supports it.

What's your point? When you evaluate your life, what's working well? What isn't working at all? Do you know what your values are, and more importantly, are you making choices that align with them?

Are you making time to connect -- with yourself and with others? Are those connections giving you energy or sucking the life out of you?

Can you tell me your needs and what you're doing to meet them? Or are you just moving through the motions each day, occasionally complaining, when all the while life is passing you by?

Life is short. That's a concept that was forever drilled into my brain after I almost lost my husband in a ski accident three years ago. But it doesn't have to take something that horrific to start to live life differently.

Accept It or Change It
Mark October 19th on the calendar. Evaluate your life. Make a commitment to accept the things you aren't willing to change, and take action on the things you want to be different.

You only get to live this life once, so you might as well invest time in evaluating and adjusting it now. That way, when you have to celebrate October 30th's event (Create A Great Funeral Day), you can feel good about the life you lived!

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