The concept of “Rumspringa” is a uniquely Amish tradition.
It is a period of adolescence where Amish youngsters are allowed to leave the community and experience life outside their own.
This period of soul-searching marks a transition from their childhood in the community to adulthood, and it’s up to them to decide whether they want to stay and continue farming or leave for a more “modern” way of life.
This period of self-reflection illustrates the Amish’s embrace of choice and individuality within the boundaries of their community’s traditions and beliefs.
After you are done messing about in life’s various rumspringas, it’s usually time to get back to work. If you want to achieve great success in life, it’s important to lock down what cornerstone habits you need to build. As you build these habits, keep the initial task simple so that it does not require much motivation to complete it.
Here are some examples:
- For your spiritual life: Try starting your morning with five minutes of meditation. Find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed, close your eyes, and breathe. If you need help getting into the right headspace, several apps can help guide you through it. When you can let the thoughts go in and out of your mind without judging them and aim to find stillness in the moment, you’re setting yourself up to reap the benefits. TM and yoga sun salutes are great ways to start this habit.
- For your physical health: It’s vital that you get enough sleep every night. Use a smart device to help track your sleeping patterns and statistics. To decide when you need to get to bed, count backward from your wake-up time to ensure you get at least seven hours of sleep. Try setting a reminder 30 minutes before this bedtime as your marker to start getting ready for some much-needed rest. Stretching, yoga, and riding are all great ways to get in shape, as well as running and rock climbing.
- For your personal life: At the beginning of each month, time block one hour a week to do something for yourself – such as taking a class or reading a book. Make a calendar appointment with yourself for something that will make you happy.
- For your key relationships: Schedule a family dinner or movie night with your family or friends once a week. They will appreciate the quality time and, together, you’ll create new memories. I try to spend at least an hour of quality time every day with mine.
- For your job/business: Fill out a 411 each week. By taking the time to do this, you’ll understand what needs to be done right now to accomplish your goals.
- For your finances: Start to check your bank account weekly, if not daily, to see what’s coming in and what’s going out. A great step toward eliminating debt and increasing your net worth is simply understanding what’s happening. Creating a yearly budget, net worth statement, and list of goals that you monitor weekly is the next step towards financial freedom.
You can boost your happiness with small daily acts, micro-actions. All the suggested micro-actions have been associated with emotional well-being in previously conducted studies. Instances include compiling a list or journal expressing gratitude, participating in acts of kindness like visiting an unwell neighbor or performing a thoughtful gesture for a friend or even a stranger. Certain micro-actions encompass celebrating someone else’s happiness, practicing self-reflection, engaging in meditation, or dedicating time to recognize the positive aspects in challenging situations, commonly referred to as positive reframing.
