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I could never forget that morning after my 30th birthday. I went clubbing with 5 of my crazy friends and I had one mission – to get totally wasted.
And though I barely made it home because I was legless and my friends had to literally drag me to my bed, I could still recall the things that happened to me in chronological order, the moment I got back to my consciousness. I woke up half-naked with a very bad hangover, called McDonalds delivery to order some food, and crawled up in the bathroom.
After 30 minutes, the delivery boy arrived carrying a Big Mac and 5 large iced teas. I don’t remember ordering those drinks but I was completely wrecked so I may have really asked for it. I enjoyed my meal on the floor of my bedroom while my head was still spinning. Mission accomplished.
In my defense, turning 30 is a big deal. Not because we are getting closer to our gravestone, but it is more of an exciting milestone to celebrate how far we’ve come and how far we want to go.
To experience life is to embrace all of its opportunities with a positive outlook and energy. It is about getting intoxicated from all the adventures and appreciating the journey with a certain kind of high.
It is all about having all the experiences that the world has to offer and facing our fears that give us a rush of adrenaline.
I remember the first time I went to Universal Studios. Though I wanted to try all the extreme rides, I like to start with the “moderate” ones. So when I saw Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase, I told my friends that we should try that one first. I was under the impression that the ride was easy and was designed for kids.
To my surprise, this cute little attraction turned out to be a champion deceiver and an evil villain! It’s a roller-coaster ride with the most unexpected twist of a lifetime! And though Elmo fooled me that day, I never regret going there.
This is exactly how we get high on life – living everyday with no regrets, what if’s, or maybes.
In the article “4 Top Tips for Creating an Extraordinary Bucket List,” William Stokes teaches us how to grow and diversify our personal goals. He emphasizes the importance of identifying the key areas of our lives such as the financial aspects, health and fitness, career, travel, and achievements, so that through reflection we can make them better.
Another striking tip is #3: Share and discuss your bucket list goals with friends. Our friends, no matter how crazy, laugh with us, cry with us and help us get through life in general. They are our tissue rolled into one and our personal 9-1-1.
Life is too short. But sometimes, we still let the day flow without exploring it with the ones that matter.
In the piece “Friend With Health Benefits: How Your Pals Could Boost Well-Being,” Honor Whiterman discusses how our friends could improve our health and help put things into perspective.
Being high on love and life is a point of view.
It is an understanding that sometimes doing the insane and the unexpected can bring benefits – just like how Meg Whitman, the billionaire CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, asks younger people for business advice.
It sounds really mad but it’s true! Though Whitman finds it annoying for young hires to complain about certain projects, she also sees that “refusing to work on things that do not matter” isn’t really a bad idea! Makes sense, right?
Living life to the fullest is a lifestyle.
We have to destroy boredom before it destroys us. There is nothing wrong in breaking free from conformity.
So girl, if you want to be brave, bold and adventurous, you should try rocking these succulent pieces of jewelry designed by 41-year-old florist, Susan McLeary. She took her love for plants and fashion one notch higher by creating juicy and delicious cuffs, rings, necklaces and astonishing boutonnieres.
Also, you should check out Julia Reinstein’s revolutionary way on how to clean your makeup brushes using dry shampoo. Unlike other liquid products that are really tough to use, this one just needs spraying and voila, instant dry clean!
Being high on love and life doesn’t always mean that you have to do something extraordinary or life-threatening.
You don’t have to bungee jump or sky dive just to prove that you are living your life to the fullest.
Sometimes, it just happens and you get that incredible feeling after you spend the whole day with the ones you love, when you catch yourself laughing really hard over a friend’s crazy jokes, or simply when you just feel connected to your surroundings and to the world. It is a feeling of weightlessness and heightened sensations whenever you see happy people and embrace the experiences that come to define you.
I try not to waste time on regrets. No one is perfect, so we’re going to have them, but dwelling on them can be hazardous. It’s better to focus on making any changes you can and then move on.
Congratulations on turning 30!
I really liked your closing paragraph about being high on life. I’ve had that happen where I am laughing so hard and I love my friends so much, and it really is a feeling of euphoria. No alcohol required.
Living your life to the fullest is something that I’ve been trying to do for a while now. This really hit me hard a few years ago because I lost a really good friend when she was only in her mid-twenties. It makes you realize that you only have a short time here, so you should do as many things as you can.
If you want to live the best life, you surround yourself with good people who are emotionally healthy. You find joy in the little things. You laugh freely. You take chances and put yourself out there. You do good deeds. Life might not always be wonderful, but if you do these things, it will be wonderful the majority of the time, and you will find yourself around people who matter and who inspire you to be better than you are.
Been there, done that with the hangover! Bleah! Not fun. Don’t want to do it again. However, I do want to live my life to the fullest and be wide open. In order to do that, I surround myself with girlfriends and friends that are men who are of like mind. Goal setting is a challenge for me but I’m closer than I was to deciding what it is I want to do and my friends are helping. There’s more than a little truth to the song: “Don’t worry, be happy!”
While it’s so much fun to drink and go crazy on a birthday celebration night, it’s completely the opposite of fun to have to deal with a terrible hangover the next day. I’ve been there many times, but I still think it was worth it 🙂
McDonald’s has delivery? Why did I not know that?
But yes, the best way to stop your partying ways is to want to get a “high” from personal and professional success.
Same here, but as you get older your body has ways of telling you to knock it off. Letting go one last time before you really buckle up for the ride is kind of a must-do kind of thing though.
It may sound odd, but I have never been “drunk” in my life. For some reason, I never had any desire to allow myself to be in a position where I had no control over my actions. That being said, I do agree that being drunk on life is a way better buzz. If everyone could get as excited and motivated about having a successful life as some do about getting wasted, the world would be a much happier place.
This is so true. I have rid my life of negative people. I surround myself with positive people that make life more enjoyable. I also try to inspire other people.