“The Sun casts light on things, and through that light, it is possible to see. The purpose of light is to see”. -Rumi
If a budding thought started to pop in your head about how quitting feels easier than surviving and how avoiding the reality is painless than accepting it, Let me tell you that a few changes to how you spend your time may change the perspective towards life.
Believe me when I tell that it is facile saying so, but harder when doing it. Discipline and Consistency have always been the keys to success and there is no other way to get to the peaceful life. DO ONE THING AT A TIME.
How to start from the scratch, how smaller things can lead to the serenity and a few lifestyle changes can make it worth living- This article sums it up.
1. Practicing mindfulness-Again, it is easier when said, but harder to implement. They say “be present, here and now, observing your mind and staying non- judgmental” is mindfulness. It certainly is. But how do we do it? The answer is simple.
There is definitely an easy approach to it. Think of your mind to be a 2-storey house. Upper floor is a screen where one sentence runs from one side to another at a time and the lower floor is a processor. Mindfulness is watching the second floor without turning the processor on, keeping the first floor locked. It is observing your thoughts without analyzing them. Let them pass as the wind does and take a deep breath each time you think your thoughts are closer to being processed as at first, it is hard to shut down mind’s ability to analyze.
Leave a comment if you ever had a moment in your day where you’re staring at something and were not in touch with what was going on around with no thoughts in your mind, but you’re content, feeling full and relaxed unaware of surroundings.
2. Dance– Dance it away. Physical exertions clears out the mind. Remember, it is not about how perfect the dance moves are, but surely its about moving the thoughts out of your mind with physical moves. So, put on your favorite music, if not then some good beats would help and dance.
Do it for 5-10 minutes in a day for a few days until you get the hang of it and later, your body will start rolling itself whenever you are stressed.
3. Cook-Get up and cook yourself a meal. Start with easy recipes, that require no longer than 5-10 minutes to get your food ready. Just do it once in the beginning and gradually enhance your skill with complexity of recipes. After a week or two of cooking one meal for self, try doing it twice a day. Watch videos to learn new recipes if it gets you interested.
Remember to treat yourself to a healthy, tasty-to-eyes, self cooked meal. Try baking, decorating and also, cleaning after yourself.
Making it simpler, How about starting with mixing some raw vegetables, put them together with spice sprinkles and top it off with your choice of dressing and be ready to applause for yourself once it is done.
4. Walk-Each time you feel like bursting out, when emotions are flooding and you feel the urge to react, either getting angry, cry out or violent, excuse yourself from the situation with an apology and go out for a small walk.
Walk a small distance, deep breathe and remind yourself when exhaling, exhale the urge to react and involve yourself into stressful situations.
5. Read-NO TO FANTASY WORLD!! Read good books. Make sure to highlight what you like and what you want to implement to your routine. When you highlight, you make yourself aware of what change is required. Make sure to paste some sticky notes around your room that you found meaningful while reading and the purpose remains to remind you over and over about how important this change is.
Also, do not tend to read a lot at once. Don’t rush to finish a good book. Take pauses in between and try implementing one change at a time. Take enough time, but remember to come back to where you paused. Re-read the books that you like.
Need some recommendations?- https://www.lightsofpeace.ca/must-reads/
6. Write-It is a MUST do!! Writing aids with re-living the good moments and gives the chance to improve our behaviors by reflecting on to self. If you are new to this as part of your routine, recommended is that you do it 10 minutes after getting into your bed, before sleeping. It is like summarizing your day.
The key is to not go into details, but to acknowledge the situations and your reactions to them. The goal is to reflect, learn and improve.
Need help?
7. Paint– There is nothing that remains boring after filling some colors into it. What I mean is, a piece of paper turns into art once its colorful. It is just similar to coloring the darker areas of our lives. Pick up some colors. Draw whatever you like. Remember, no perfection is expected, don’t judge yourself, but just draw you heart out and fill it with your favorite colors. With time, teach yourself the technique to mix colors, make new shades and fill all the corners that you want.
8. Sing-Feel free to sing your heart out. Don’t worry as it is not being done to please any audience. It does not take a good singer to sing out the lyrics, but the emotions certainly aid the feel of the song. Sing it to yourself, hum around during the day to just a few musical pieces. Make sure to feel it in your veins. Hum, and hear it in your ears and imagine yourself dancing gracefully to it (even when in reality your body is as stiff as a log). Live it in your soul.
Try doing as many as you can from the above given ones. Remind yourself what is important to you; If it is peace, bring yourself back to it. Stay consistent until it becomes a part of you. As said, Fake it until you make it.
