A dozen doable ways to add spice to your life - Shape Your Life

Shape, August, 2003 by Sharon Cohen, Kathleen Doheny

Are you bored with the mundane, humdrum and ho-hum of your daily routines? You don't have to outfit yourself in expensive sports gear, trek through the Amazon jungle or hand-feed tiger sharks to add more excitement to your life. "Enjoying a more adventurous existence only requires learning how to look past the seemingly ordinary," says David Silberkleit, a master certified life coach and author of A New Adventure Every Day: 541 Simple Ways to Live With Pizzazz (Sourcebooks Inc., 2002). For 12 easy suggestions for turning ennui into exhilaration without ever leaving your own little world, see the list on the next page. For more inspirational ideas, go to everydayadventure.com.

12 easy ways to reinvent the ordinary

AT HOME

1. Decorate a shelf with your favorite trinkets, like your collection of PEZ dispensers.

2. Paste glow-in-the-dark stars on your bedroom ceiling.

WITH OTHER PEOPLE

3. Talk to strangers in lines.

4. Go someplace or do something brand new with old friends.

AT WORK

5. Learn the art of saying no: You win no awards for being overworked.

6. Ask your supervisor what you could do better.

WITH YOUR BODY

7. Shake up your fitness routine: Try fencing or water aerobics.

8. Sign up for a charity event and train with a friend.

WITH YOUR FINANCES

9. Give away 10 singles in a day. Reward favors and solutions to problems.

10. Request that people who owe you money repay you.

IN NATURE

11. Learn to identify the trees and birds where you live.

12. Practice sensing the wind and air with your body. -- Jennifer Matlack