full?

Today I received a short survey from an old friend of mine. She was researching different ways that people spend their time. Most of the questions were relatively brief, but there was one question at the very end that piqued my interest.

How would you define, for yourself, “living life to the fullest?” What would that look like to you?

hmmm.....here was something I hadn't thought of in a while.

It was a fun few minutes of pondering for me, so I thought I'd share! For what it's worth, this was my answer:

"I would have to say that my definition of “living life to the fullest” has dramatically changed over the past few years. For the majority of my life, living a full life meant doing as many things as possible: traveling to the most places, trying my hand at different jobs, being with people as much as I could be, etc.
Now, however, I would define it less in terms of quantity and more in terms of quality.
Rather than asking myself how many countries I still haven’t “checked of the list,” I care more about returning to the same places and continuing to build relationships with the people there. Rather than trying to find the best job for me, I want to be the very best person for whatever job I am currently working at.
Rather than being friends with as many people as possible, I try to love each of my friends to the very best of my ability.
Rather than being “happy” all the time to please others, I prefer be honest about what I’m feeling so that I can be genuinely myself.
Those are the things that will make it possible to live a full life. There is no way I could do it if I was selfishly trying to cram in as much as possible. Because, last time I checked, "busy" might mean a full day....but I sure don't want that to define my life.

I mean, isn't life more about what we give?

Additionally, there are two crucial aspects I need to understand about myself in order to live life to the fullest: 1) knowing my limitations/boundaries (aka “how much is too much”) and 2) knowing when and how to take risks (and when the time comes, being willing to give up the security that “risk” inherently involves). I also try to consistently re-evaluate where I am, and whether I am going in the direction that I had hoped.
I’m sure my thoughts and opinions on living life to the fullest will continue to change as I get older, but I hope that by living this way, I will be able to live a life with as few regrets as possible."

So, how will you live your life to the fullest?