During Christmas time our lifestyle often changes: long shopping tours, large dishes of homemade food or cookies and less sleep because we try to spend as much time as possible with our friends, to wish them a Merry Christmas before
everybody leaves for the holidays. What about the long hours in front of the chimney – reading a book, drinking tea, listening to Christmas music or just staring out of the window while recalling childhood memories? What about the time we spend alone, not only during Christmas time but also during the rest of the year?
We enjoy being distracted and play on our mobile phone while waiting in line, check our Facebook page whenever we have ten minutes to spare and prefer to be late to an appointment, instead of being there in time. Because we don’t like to waste one or two minutes just waiting around. We don’t feel the need to get in touch with our body and our mind. We never ask ourselves: how do I feel right now standing here, in this place? What do I smell? Where are my thoughts? And how is my breathing?
Today is Monday and a long week is waiting ahead of us. Personally, I am excited about it. My agenda is quite full, but I am curious to see how I will feel at the end of this week, what experiences I will have gained, which new places I will have seen, and which new thoughts will be busying my mind. In 7 days we meet many new and old faces. We will have many good but also bad conversations and encounter a great deal of new problems. But, there will also be solutions to the old ones. So it makes sense that we need time to digest everything we experience in 7 days, right? Should we reserve one day at the end of the week to do that? (Even God was burned out after 6 days and took the 7th day off.) No, we shouldn’t be tired and exhausted over the weekend! Remember to take regular breaks during the day and not only one long break at night! The same way you shouldn’t be burned out over the weekend, you shouldn’t be burned out at night. Apart from this, there are a couple of other small things that can considerably improve your every-day life without spending to much time or effort, and for sure not money!
Check it out, and don’t try to follow all the steps in one day! Don’t set your goals too high, but focus on one thing at a time, in order to do it properly. Each step is complicated enough on its own and many times incorporates things you’ve learned in a previous lesson:
Day 1 – Start the circle by appreciating and being grateful for one thing in your life. Try to think of one small thing and you will see that many things will automatically come to your mind. Nevertheless, focus on one aspect only. Find beauty in your surrounding; appreciate the beautiful plants in your house e.g., or the presence of your pet if you have one. If you are ready for more, you can go even farther and find one detail of yourself to praise on that day (why not your nose, your voice, or your capacity of helping others).
Day 2 – Stop rushing around when you are late, but accept the circumstances. When you’re late, you’re late. You won’t make it on time, but you have many other options that will alleviate the nervousness. Send the person who’s waiting for you a message and just continue doing what you are doing step by step, until you reach the place you have to be or are ready for your appointment. In the grand scheme of things, 10 minutes don’t make such a big difference.
Day 3 – The grand scheme of things. We tend to give certain things way too much of importance. It steals our energy. When your thoughts are making you feel anxious, you are approaching the problem in the wrong way. Don’t try to push every small obstacle away, but find out how to climb over it with the least amount of effort. The first step for that is to clarify how important that issue really is. When we have a look at things from an outside perspective, we 70 % of the time realize that the current situation is not as bad as we make it out to be.
Day 4 – Start living the now and stop thinking all the time of what will be and what was. Surely there are things that require a bit of planning and thinking ahead, but don’t busy your mind with that too much. Dedicate it the right amount of time, then move on to other things and live the present moment! Firstly, many problems will get solved along the way (you will be more relaxed and inspiration will come easier to you if you don’t block your mind with the same problem over and over again) and secondly, most issues are not as pressing as we may think, because we cannot foresee all the other influences that modify the current situation.
Day 5 - Learn how to forgive yourself and accept your weaknesses. We all constantly make mistakes, but the nice thing is that life goes on and that we can learn from our past. Every new day, new hour, new minute gives us the chance to make things better and to forgive ourselves and others for what has been done in the past. Don’t focus on what you or others have done, but rather on what you or others are doing right now! Remember to accept the circumstances, like you learned how to
do on day 2.
Day 6 – You are ready to see the good in the bad. You are ready to look past your current situation and trust yourself and your inner voice. On this day, you can try to change your perspective on something that will seem bad in the first moment. Make an effort to find at least one positive aspect in what seems to be entirely negative and unfavorable.
Day 7 – Share your experiences with others. Let them benefit from what you’ve learned and gained. Encourage them to believe in themselves. Lean back and enjoy the happiness you get while helping others and seeing them smile.
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