The secret to keeping your life exciting is...

Want to know the secret to keeping your life exciting? It's not much of a secret at all when you think about it. It's just that people are unwilling to invest the effort required.

The secret to keeping your life lies in avoiding or breaking something that begins with an "r" and ends in an "e." Can you guess what that word is?

If you said "routine," you're absolutely right.

Nothing sucks the fun out of life quite like routine does. Granted, there are some routines we can't do away with -- reporting for work at 9 a.m. sharp, taking Suzy to ballet class every Saturday afternoon, vising the dentist every couple of months -- but there's no reason for your life to be scripted entirely. Feeling as though you're running on autopilot all the time is the surest way to feeling bored.

Whatever routines we have should be interspersed with new experiences. Visit a new state or country. Take up a new hobby. Try out a restaurant you've never been to before. It can be as simple as tweaking your wardrobe, taking a different route to work every so often, or watching a new show.

Whenever I feel I'm in something of a funk, I ask myself this question, "Have I done anything new or different recently?" If the answer is "no," I waste no time seeing to it that I squeeze a novel experience into my agenda before the week ends. Sometimes merely hearing a couple of new songs does the trick.

Always give yourself something to look forward to -- something to aim for. Don't ever convince yourself that you've done everything you can possibly do, or that the present or future can never be as good as the past. Such negative thinking will have you feeling depressed in no time.

The possibilities are endless. You can spend the rest of your life learning different languages, exploring different cities, or adopting different pets. Don't let every day be just like the one that came before it. Strive to make today better; it can be as long as you believe so. There are always new things to see, do, and learn.

Variety is the spice of life. Repetitiveness, on the other hand, can make life utterly mundane. That's why it's imperative you take steps to add spontaneity and enrich your life with fresh experiences every now and then.

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