The Live Authentically podcast is back with Sharon Lebell, a bestselling author, composer, speaker and performing musician. Sharon joins Pam to talk about Stoicism, how to live your best possible life and her internationally bestselling book, “The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness.”
As per usual, Pam asks Sharon a pertinent question: “How do you live authentically?” To which Sharon responds, “I seek to live authentically every day by asking myself one question, and it’s simply this: What can you do with the moment? What can I do with this moment? Because when you think about it, well, it’s all we have.”
It’s true that the present moment is all that we have. And in this present moment, Sharon says we can make a choice that can resonate with us for years to come. It’s hard for any of us to know exactly how, but we have the control to change the course of our lives by the decisions we make at any given moment.
Getting out of the process of constantly unconsciously doing and shifting toward creating conscious choices isn’t easy. It’s not a problem that Sharon can conclusively solve. “But what I do believe we can do is set deliberate reminders to take a pause, to draw yourself back into yourself again, or to remember to remember,” Sharon shares.
One of the ways Sharon says she does that for herself is by remembering that she’s a musician. Sharon put a sticky note on one of her instruments so that when she passes by, she has to read it. The note reads, “Pay the toll,” prompting Sharon to play a tune on her instrument any time she reads the note.
“I would urge other people to just find ways of reminding themselves… For lack of a better way of saying it, remind yourself to be who you decided you were going to be. I mean, you know, one of those aspects of that question for me is I’m a musician. Well, if you’re a musician, pay the toll,” Sharon chuckled.
Learn more about Sharon and what she has to offer by watching the full podcast episode here. Or you can visit her website, or follow her on Facebook.