Lets start with a great quote!
“Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” Buddha
1. Live in the present moment
This is obviously not always easy!!
In fact it is often the icing on the cake when some bright spark says, ”Just forget about the past, move on and enjoy your life, blah blahblah.”
Ummmm…….not always that possible, but ultimately living in the present moment is for me the key to happiness and trying to avoid getting stuck in the rut of the past and the unknown pathways of the future is a must for a healthy mindset.
Our minds are fabulous at getting caught up in the stuff and ideas that just didn’t work out for us in life. Perhaps this is down to the basics ie safety and survival, your mind is quite simply trying to avoid future pain at all costs so it needs to understand, reflect, analyse, evaluate and scrutinise your failings. It is so very good at this job that it manages to bypass the successes, the moments of joy and happiness and so we can end up with a rather biased view point – leaning towards the down side of life, our failings, our regrets and our disappointments.
I was a connoisseur at living in the past, wallowing in my regrets and sadness and could do this easily for years, months, weeks, day and hours without even noticing time passing me by, it was one of my greatest hobbies and my greatest downfall as now I think about all that time wasted on feeling crap. Luckily I escaped and now I give very little time to such wasted moments as I am fully engaged in the present moment and truly loving every second of it.
I escaped these unhealthy habits through Mindfulness and I have never looked back, I sit and do mindfulness daily before I start my working day and it’s a great way to live.
2. Keeping It Real
Remember you are not the only person that might be having a tough time. I don’t say this so you can smugly look at other people in pain and sorrow and think blimey it could be worse, I could be homeless or sick! Ultimately it’s about realising that pain and suffering are universal, like it or not, life is not kind and the sooner we realise that we are not alone from feeling angst and hurt then the less we feel sorry for ourselves and the more compassionate and kinder we can be to others. Sometimes we become so locked in our own headspace that we just don’t see what is going on around us and I mean literally right under our noses!
Try to consciously notice the positives in life, notice the positives in others, in people around you. The positives need to be noticed, to be magnified, absorbed and then remembered, take note, remind yourself of the good things that you encounter and try to keep a balanced viewpoint and shift that natural inclination to stray towards the negatives in life.
3. Be Kind To Yourself
Being kind to yourself can seem alien or odd at first if you have never understood the importance of this but trust me once you open the door of kindness and compassion towards yourself you will never look back. Simple steps such as running a bath and taking time out to indulge in a good soak can be so fabulous or treating yourself to a long warm shower with some fab products is a winner for me or how about a cheeky little snooze!! Sleeping is just so awesome and something I have only just stumbled upon, I am a late learner!
I say actively give yourself time, time to be kind to yourself. This is truly a gift! When you realise that being kind to yourself is a core necessity then you can really start to enjoy life.
Ultimately changing your view point can be difficult, it can seem an impossible task but it is possible trust me! I am proof of being a game changer and the changes have been welcomed and are awesome.
If you are thinking…….yes, I want to think differently and live differently….. but you cannot see the wood for the trees then please get in touch as I am here to assist.
My role is to facilitate change so people can grow and flourish – and this is a gift!
Change something change everything!