Feeling a bit “gray?” Try this …

Do you ever find yourself just going through the motions, in a sort of gray, autopilot mode? If so, I have a great tip for you. It’s a simple exercise you can do in most any situation to quickly wake yourself up and feel more alive and energized.

And this may seem like a small problem to be concerned about, but it’s actually quite important. When you get right down to it, the thing we’re most looking for in our lives is fulfillment. And we tend to think that comes from what we have or what we do. But the truth is, fulfillment is a natural byproduct of simply being more present and awake. So every day you spend in this gray zone is a day that you’re not going to feel fulfilled. And when you can snap yourself out of it and wake yourself up, you start to feel pretty darned good about your life.

So, check it out and see what you think.

And then, in the comments, tell me how this idea of the gray zone applies to your life. How much time do you spend there? Got any good tips to share for snapping out of it?

Thanks, and enjoy!

[ transcript ]

Hey, it’s David Levin. I want to talk to you today about how your life feels to you. How alive does it feel?

A lot of times we get into a place where we’re not necessarily in a funk, we’re not crabby, not depressed, just sort of in a gray, aimless, autopilot. You know? We’re going along, doing what needs to be done. But we’re not feeling very alive and vibrant, which of course is how we want to feel. Right? That’s what life is about. Or at least it’s what it should be about. So I wanted to give you a great little exercise you can do pretty much anytime to snap yourself out of that gray place and bring some more energy and vitality into your life. So first I have to tell you a little story.

About two months ago, I hurt my back. Just a dumb thing. Our son had fallen asleep in our bed, I picked him up and carried him in to his bed, which is something I’ve done many times over the years. But you know, times change. He weighs over 100 pounds now, and I’m not getting any younger, so it was just a bad idea. I threw it out pretty bad, and it was a problem for about 6 weeks. It wasn’t super bad, I could still get around and do most things, but the pain was there pretty consistently throughout the day, it was tender and weak, I was wary of it all the time. Our kids actually told me I was turning into an old geezer. Not very nice. But I was walking around like that. Hunched over, shuffling. I would hurt it again doing just the littlest things. It was pretty bad. And the thing that bothered it the most was sleeping. I’d be fine during the night, but getting out of bed in the morning was really hard. It was slow. Sharp pain. Had trouble getting dressed. Couldn’t put on my pants or socks — I couldn’t bend over and lift up my legs to do that — I had to sit down and gingerly pick them up one at a time with my hands. And this happened every day. Week after week.

So, when I finally got it fixed — it was a couple of good chiropractic adjustments and a massage — for about a week afterward, getting out of bed in the morning was sort of a shock, because it didn’t hurt. I would start to get up and all of a sudden I was just up. Like I was spring loaded. Just boom. I’m up. It was the most amazing thing. And I noticed it every time, and was just tickled by it. It was thrilling. My gosh, I can move normally again. No more geezer.

So that is essentially the exercise I’m talking about — it’s noticing and appreciating the difference when you regain some basic function. And the good news is, you don’t have to actually hurt yourself to do it. You can use your imagination and get the same results. And in fact, that’s how I’ve always done it. I imagine that something’s been wrong and now it’s better. But having something actually be wrong reminded me what a great exercise it is, so I just thought I would tell you about it.

Here’s how it works. Picture yourself driving along in your car. And you don’t have to be in a car. It’s just to illustrate. So, you’re sitting there, driving along, and you start to think about various physical capabilities you have, and you just imagine that they’ve been gone for a while, and you’ve just got them back, and you’re amazed at being able to do them again. And you want to make this feel as real as possible – just like I felt when I was able to get out of bed and pull on my socks again. So, you’re sitting in your car, and it’s like this: Wow, I’m driving. By myself. I can grip the wheel. Both hands work. And they’re strong. Cool. I can lift my leg and move it from the gas to the break. I can breathe without any pain, it’s so great. I can turn around and see the kids on the back seat. My neck just moves, it’s beautiful. You see? It’s your most basic physical abilities. You lost them for a while. Long enough to sort of forget what it was like to have them. But they’re back now, and it’s fantastic. That’s the exercise.

Of course, this is a gratitude exercise, you’ve probably heard about things like this. And there’s more and more information out there now about the benefits of gratitude in general, just being thankful for things in your life. And they’re pretty remarkable. It actually improves your physical health. Helps you sleep better. Psychologically, it reduces a lot of negative emotions and increases happiness. Helps you be more emotionally resilient. It makes you more sensitive and empathetic, which helps you connect better with people. Helps you feel better about yourself, boost your self-esteem. It’s really something.

But with most of the gratitude exercises I’ve heard of, you end up thinking about things that are sort of general, like just the people in your life, or about things that happened: someone did something nice, something went well – things like that. And those work fine, but the reason I like this exercise so much is because it’s so specific and fundamental that you can always find things to be genuinely grateful for. You can do it anytime and any place. Walking, driving, sitting at your desk, lying in bed at night. And it really gives you a pretty profound lift. I think you’ll feel a real, tangible difference in your energy and your state.

So try this one out. Just a simple gratitude exercise that can bring a lot more life into your life.

If you’re watching this somewhere other than on my site, head on over to davidlevin.com and get on my list so I can let you know when other things come out. Otherwise, have a great day. Keep up the good work. I’ll see you next time.

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