How to Romanticize Your Life

To romanticize your life is a real thing and it’s not delusional if you want to romanticize your life.

Some might say romanticising your life is not possible in reality and it’s only for being or looking aesthetic on Instagram or TikTok, but I’d say it’s not.

It’s a rather wonderful thing that you want to come back to truly loving your life now and now want to see things from a different perspective of meaning, delight and wonder.

For so long we live our lives trying to be practical, to be logical, to rationalize our dreams, living with cynicism and complaints. We keep on rationalizing what might be possible or not.

But what good has being practical done to us?

What good has being too logical and doing all the overthinking done to us?

We are too afraid to take risks.

We care too much about what others will think.

We don’t have any capacity for delight.

We forget to enjoy the present and life just passes by.

So the truth is, we do need to be a little delusional enough to enjoy our life if that’s what you call it.

You have to be delusional enough to go after your dreams (which you now think might be crazy) and live the life you truly want.

You need not always care for logic and reason and you need not let the idea of normal get in your way.

So yes, it might be delusional to romanticize your life, but you need to have this much delusion to enjoy life.

Being too practical, looking at every little detail and being frustrated and worried over petty problems is not just what we’re meant here to do and be.

You’re here to live this life wonderfully so that when you come to the end of your life, you can say, “Oh! What a wonderful adventure it has been- there were highs and lows, but I lived a wonderful story and I would love to do that again!”

Yes, that’s what I’d want to say.

So in this post, I want to encourage you to romanticize your life and tell you how you can do that.

But before that let’s know what romanticizing life means.

What does it mean to romanticize your life?

Table of Contents

To romanticize life means to look for the extraordinary in the ordinary.

For so long you have neglected the things that you can be grateful for in your life, but now you start to notice them and appreciate them.

Romanticizing life means enjoying the present moment and seeing everyday experiences as a wonderful addition to the story of your life.

It is the way to live an ideal version of your life for yourself and seek to look at the silver lining in everything.

So now, here’s how to romanticise your life.

How to Romanticize Your Life?

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1. See yourself as the main character

Have the main character energy in your life.

This does not mean that you make yourself the centre of attention in everything and make everything about you.

Just think, how would you want your favourite character in a movie, or a novel to act and do?

You are playing your own life’s story. This is YOUR life you are living and we get only one chance to do it.

All of life is a stage. Everything is a set-up. All the people we know are the different characters in our story.

We play dress up and change our clothes according to our roles.

We move through life from one theatre to another, from one background to another.

There is joy. There is tragedy. But there is also meaning.

All of life is a play, a story.

And in that story, how are we acting?

Are we playing the character of a hopeless person?

Are we playing the character of a cynical person who only looks at the worst in everything?

Or are we playing the character of a joyful person? A daring person? A person who has integrity, purpose and faith?

The good thing about our life is that no matter how long we have played a certain character, we can always change if we don’t like it.

So what character do you want to play in your life? Cast yourself in that character.

Nobody is in charge of our story but us.

Yes, there might be plot twists sometimes which we might not have control over, but how we narrate our story and in which direction we take it after the plot twist is all up to us.

2. Look at life from a bigger picture

So often we get consumed by our life’s hustle and bustle and get lost in the tiny details.

To start romanticising your life, zoom out instead of zooming in and look at life from a bigger picture.

Look at your life as if from an eagle’s view.

Watch yourself, watch your life and start looking at all the things that are there in your life to be thankful for.

Zooming out gives a wonderful perspective on life and it makes you see all the good things that are there.

You can zoom even further out and look at your life as if from a space view, imagining you’re looking at the entire earth, then your country, then your city, your neighbourhood and then you- out here living your life.

We are so tiny human beings, but when we forget to zoom out, we think everything is so big even the smallest of inconveniences and problems seem like a mountain when they are only molehills.

But they aren’t so big as much as our mind makes them.

So zoom out, look at the big picture and romanticize your life.

P.S. If you are ready to give a try at working on yourself and changing your life, I have recently created a Special challenge/Guide for you to Change your Life in 7 days.

I think you’ll love it if you give it a try for 7 days and see what’s possible for you.

3. Be Delighted

Our capacity to notice is our capacity to be delighted.

To enjoy and romanticize your life, you have to start noticing the little things and pay attention to what is happening around you.

As Julia Cameron puts it, “The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.”

So pay attention to your life around you. If you do, you will be delighted in so many ways.

I recently found this on Instagram and I feel this one post, puts it perfectly,

Yes, and it’s also, “Wow! Look at the colour of this leaf”

“Wow! So cute!”

“Wow! Such a wonderful weather!”

“Wow! Let’s eat!”

“Wow! Such a pretty house”

“Wow! I get to do this”

“Wow! Afternoon nap!”

How much “Wow!” are you using in your daily life?

I think the word ‘wow’ pretty much sums up how much delighted you are in your life.

I find myself using this word especially, like, “Waaaoooo!!” quite often. Lol.

Be excited over the little things and big things. That’s the secret to being happy in life.

Look and find the delightful things in your life. Take pictures of everything.

Write down things you are grateful for.

And if right now, your life is particularly hard and full of suffering, try to be delighted at your suffering too and find humour in it if you can.

4. Look at the wonder of everyday things

Life might seem monotonous and it might seem like you’re living the same life each day, but if you only put a little effort into paying attention, you will find the wonder in everyday things.

Life is full of wonder. It is only us that we have considered things to be normal.

We are all living on a magical and mystical Earth.

And here is why I say so,

Isn’t it mystical, how the years show on our faces, how a cut heals itself on its own like magic?

Isn’t it mystical how the earth rotates around at its precise angle just so there can be life?

Isn’t it mystical how a small seed turns into a magnificent tree, how the flowers give out fragrance, how the egg yolk turns into a chick?

Isn’t it mystical how we were born from inside our mother’s bodies out of nowhere?

Isn’t it mystical to die?

Isn’t it mystical that I am alive in a time when you are alive and we are connected inextricably?

There is so much to wonder and be excited about.

This breath is a wonder. This body is a wonder. This life is a wonder. Having pets who feel our love and feel connected with our loved ones is a wonder.

Our feelings are a wonder. Our thoughts are a wonder.

To be in touch with wonder every day and romanticize your life:

Buy flowers for yourself and look at the flowers
Watch a plant grow
Touch or hold a tree
Look in your eyes and smile
Tune in to your breath
Look at a baby smile
Watch the stars
Listen to your feelings

If you look at the wonder of everyday things, you will always romanticize your life.

5. Live slowly and mindfully

You can’t romanticize your life if you’re always in a hurry and if you’re always rushing because when you rush, you can’t notice and you won’t be able to pay attention.

When we’re anxious and in a hurry, our body gets rushed too.

We’re in a state of panic and anybody who sees us will know we’re in a hurry too.

They’ll know we’re tensed through the way we’re behaving.

Our words are fast. We can’t pay much attention to anything and more than feeling stressed, we are ‘acting’ stressed.

The first sign shows from our bodies and we don’t realise it much.

But when we live slowly and mindfully, our body language changes too.

And our body language has a great impact on how we feel much more than we realize.

As much as our mind- our thoughts and feelings affect our body, our body also affects our mind and feelings.

I’ve written an entire post on this- The power of graceful movement on wellbeing.

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh said, “Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet”.

Our everyday life is full of actions- whether it is picking up a utensil, washing the dishes or anything.

When you live mindfully and decide to do things mindfully, whether it is drinking tea mindfully, walking mindfully or working mindfully, you will do the same thing enjoying it more and you will do the same thing with less overwhelm.

You can try it today.

When you do things slowly and mindfully, the quality of your life changes because the quality of your actions changes.

P.S Some inspiration for you to slow down and be mindful:

6. Fall in love with yourself

To romanticize your life, you have to first fall in love with yourself.

The first way to love yourself is to speak kindly to yourself.

If you’re always criticizing yourself and punishing yourself for every mistake, then your relationship with yourself will always be rough.

And the second is to give time to yourself.

I find myself feeling stressed and agitated easily by outer situations when I don’t give to myself and when I don’t nurture myself.

But when I spend my morning routine properly, when I have exercised, meditated, prayed and given the needed time to myself, I do much better in my daily life and the minor things that earlier would have bothered me, don’t.

I realize that the reason why so many of us get agitated easily and get stressed easily is that we don’t love ourselves and we don’t give ourselves the time we deserve to ourselves.

All our time is up doing things for others and when it comes to giving time to ourselves, we’re depleted.

I always stress saying that the first few hours of the day must be spent with ourselves. It strictly must belong as me-time. Even if it is just 30 minutes to yourself. Have a morning routine.

Start with giving time to yourselves first.

Wear nice clothes. Be presentable. Nourish yourself and with that fullness, give love and care to others.

It becomes more fulfilling and you do things with love instead of feeling it as an obligation.

Some inspiration:

7. Fall in love with life

To romanticize your life, you need to fall in love with all the little bits that make up your life.

It might be hard if you feel you’ve messed up your life.

But I want you to know that we all inevitably mess up.

We are all only learning and we do our best with the knowledge we have at that time.

You can’t undo the things you did in your life, but you can always re-do your life.

Right from this present moment, you can re-do your life.

Fall in love with your life.

Take risks.

The talent you’ve been hiding for so long- bring that out. Post it. Show it. Stop thinking about what other people will think.

Travel places. See new cultures. Dance. Laugh. Love.

Spend quality time with your loved ones. Go on solo dates.

Get silly. Laugh at your mistakes and don’t take life so seriously.

Nothing is so serious about life.

It is only you who is taking things seriously. Even God doesn’t take your mistakes so seriously if you only decide to forgive yourself and change.

Nobody cares and that’s a good thing.

We’re all busy living our lives and even if people have to talk about you, they talk only because they are bored.

They will talk, but they will also forget and it won’t matter for long.

As long as you don’t commit a crime, nothing is really serious.

You don’t remember the raise you got, the kind of house you lived in, or the best day of your screen time, but you will remember the people, the connections and the things that you did.

Fall in love with the everyday things you get to do. Think of them as something you’re getting to do, instead of having to do them.

Cherish the connections you have in your life. Spend Quality time with them and make the people in your life proud of you. Let them all be happy whenever they meet you.

8. Go on an exploration

Life becomes boring and monotonous when we only do what we already know.

When there is no curiosity in our lives, we can’t fall in love with life.

To romanticize your life you need to go on an exploration and a self-discovery journey.

Find out what things you like.

Try new things. Change your style. Cut your hair.

Find a new hobby. P.S 60 Hobby Ideas to try

Get creative.

The talent that you put on the back seat to be more practical and rational- get it out in the forefront.

20 years from now, you’d love to be in this age you’re in. You’d love to have this health and energy you have now. So do it now.

Save money and travel. Do things you have always wanted while you have the age, the energy and the time.

Don’t let there be any regrets in your life.

Start doing things your future self will thank you for.

9. Embrace quiet times

Give some quiet time to yourself.

Prayer.
Meditation.
Journaling.
Drawing.
Painting.
Reading books.
Solo walks in nature.
Long showers.

They are important ways to fill your cup.

In quietness, we return to ourselves.

In the noise, we can never love our life and romanticize it.

You have to return to your inner home to fall in love with the life you have.

10. Look for the meaning

Lastly, try to look at the meaning of every experience.

The hard experiences are teaching us something.

Mostly it is how to be strong and an opportunity to learn to look for the deeper meaning.

The hard people who might be giving you a hard time are also there to teach you something.

Mostly they are trying to teach you how to be more compassionate and humble.

Ask yourself, “What is it trying to teach me?”

“What is this experience making me notice?”

If you find a why, the what becomes a lot easier to bear and it no longer feels like a burden.

Final thoughts on how to romanticize your life

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To conclude romanticizing life is not about ignoring reality or looking at life through rose-tinted glasses, but it’s an invitation to find the extraordinary in the ordinary, to find moments of joy in the mundane.

To romanticize our life is to vow to live intentionally, to pay attention to the life around us to be more thankful, thoughtful and delightful looking at all the wonderful things that still remain with us that most of the times go unnoticed and unappreciated.

Romanticizing life encourages us to slow down, savour the little experiences that make up our lives, and to nurture our relationships and our lives’ meaning.

So here’s to romanticizing life, to seeing the magic in the mundane, and to being the main character of our own extraordinary stories.

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How to Romanticize Your Life

What does it mean to romanticize your life?