We just spent nine days on vacation to an incredibly beautiful place called Costa Rica. One of the concepts that we live by and teach is summed up perfectly in two simple words, Pura Vida.
In Costa Rica these two words could mean one or all of several greetings, such as:
- Hello
- Goodbye
- Take it easy
- Enjoy life
- All is good
- Purity in life
- This is life
- Everything is great
- Life is awesome
There is no need to dwell on anything but the present moment and all that is sweet in life. Pura Vida means go with the flow, take it easy, and don’t freak out about the little things! Pura Vida is more than just a simple phrase. It’s an emotion, it’s an attitude, it’s happiness, and it’s a way of life.
Costa Ricans don’t just let the term bring them a good life; it’s the way they use it in their everyday attitude to make them happy. “Pura Vida” means thatpeople need to be grateful for the things they
do have in life, instead of dwelling on the negative things that they don’t. The phrase shows that no matter how bad you may think you have it, life for someone else can be far less fortunate than your own. Life is too short to be worried and upset, everyone gets to make the most of life! All in all, the locals strive to live a stress free, laid-back life and they believe that their motto “Pura Vida” perfectly exemplifies how they live.
Pura Vida! means that no matter what your current situation is, life for someone else can always be less fortunate than your own. So you need to consider that maybe…just maybe, your situation isn’t all that bad and that no matter how little or how much you have in life, we are all here together and life is short…so start living it “Pura Vida style”….No matter how much of a mess your life may seem, there is always someone else who’s life would make yours look like a vacation in paradise.
Pura Vida is all about living in the moment. It’s about the power of now. This moment is all there is. I have absolute control of what I do and how I feel in this moment. I can’t control everything that happens to me, but I can control how I choose to react and how I choose to feel. Worrying about things that happened yesterday, last week, last year or ten years ago can only drag us down. If something in your past is weighing you down, look for the lesson in that experience. What did you learn about yourself or life by going through that experience? Take the good and let it go.
You cannot change the past. You can only learn from it and use those lessons to choose how you live in this moment.
We all have a certain quantity of Life Force Energy. Other cultures use different words for the same thing. In China it is called Chi. in Japan they call it Ki, and in India they use the word Prana. This Life Force Energy is the power we have in the present moment to be aware of our surroundings, to exercise our power of choice and even to activate the Law of Attraction.
When we choose to spend the present moment dwelling on a past that we cannot change or worrying about a future that we cannot control, we are expending our Life Force Energy in areas that waste this precious resource.
Let’s take a new path with a fuller life, happier life and less stress and anxiety. Let’s take a life lesson from the beautiful people of Costa Rica and live life Pura Vida Style! Join us on our video episode live from the beautiful Costa Rica for a new way to live life and find true happiness!