Appearing
like a pocket of experiences stolen from the continuous stream of some godlike
material, life is but only a glimpse.
If not just
a fleeting glimpse, what is it, after all?
Like a
rising wave which falls as soon as it rises, life too begins to end the moment
it has begun to begin.
When we
look closely into the relevance of life, we will find ourselves feeling
fascinated to discover the fact that life
is nothing but a journey towards death.
Our birth
is nothing but a gateway we enter only to traverse this journey, a journey
whose final destination, ultimately, is death.
And so, it is
quite appropriate to say that life is
short. Tiny as a heartbeat; only as expansive as a breath; and, only as much
filled as the space of the sky with temporary clouds.
As we
navigate this teeny-weeny journey of life, each one of us tends to develop and
cultivate our own strategies, our own set of thoughts which, sometimes, make us
feel happier, and sometimes, miserable.
Most of the
times when we feel unpleasant or miserable, in times like these, we tend to
forget that we have the freedom of choice to choose our thoughts. Say, if I am
feeling disastrous and I still remember that I have the freedom to choose my
thoughts, then I will immediately change the thoughts which are making me feel
disastrous, right?
So, it is
not incorrect to say that, whenever we feel unpleasantness in the form of
sadness, rage, shame, bitterness, envy, or hatred, it is usually because we
have forgotten in that moment, that we do have the freedom of choice. To choose
the way we can think and consequently, change our feelings.
None of
these feelings is either good or bad, but holding on to them could surely be a
cause of destruction. Freedom of choice is nothing but the choice to respond to
life and whatever life throws at us in any given moment. Yes, it could be
tragic, terrible or perhaps utterly traumatizing. This is what is called as ‘challenges’. Thereupon, freedom of
choice is something which we can use to cut through these difficult challenges
in the battleground of life.
The more we
are able to remember our choice-taking self, the better we are able to hold on
to our deep inner identity in times of challenges, trouble and inner suffering
while navigating through this utterly dispassionate field of life.
As a result,
our life is a consistent struggle to deepen the expanse of our self-awareness
so that simultaneously, these moments of forgetfulness keep on shrinking in
size.
We cannot
learn from anyone or anything, how to cultivate self-awareness. Mostly, it is a
natural consequence of what we experience in life and how we respond to these
experiences.
We cannot
learn this fundamental from books, people, words, or any other form of sensory data
that appears in front of us. However, all of this data including books, people,
words, work etc. is certainly helpful in revealing tiny pointers to us which,
we can use to become more self-aware.
Thinking of
this, in this article, I am sharing a list of seven incredibly rejuvenating
reminders which can be helpful for you for living life with much peace and utter
joy as they have always been for me.
So, let’s
read on! To go through them quickly, you can also watch this video:
#1Appreciate. Create. Celebrate. – Appreciate what you have. Create what you
can. Celebrate who you are.
Cultivating
self-awareness is about the tiny-little simple things more than the huge steps
or big, complex ideas. Atleast, mostly. And when it comes to these simple
little things, ‘Appreciation’ is
truly a valuable tool. It is very similar to gratitude or thankfulness.
While it is
not always possible to stay in a thankful mood all the time, ‘Appreciate’ is certainly a wonderful
reminder to check-in from time to time.
When we
appreciate all that we have, when we celebrate all the elements that make up
our individual identity, we receive more of it.
“Life is too short not to celebrate nice
moments.” – Jurgen Klopp
Most of the
times, we get entangled in the web of comparisons and lose our peace, wanting
more of what others have, and ignoring what we already have.
But it
cannot be underestimated that, acceptance of what we already have paves way to
more of what we want, as Ms. Oprah also says in this lovely quote of hers,
“The more
you celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” – Oprah Winfrey
If all you
have is a beggar’s palm, then appreciate life for offering you a beggar’s palm!
Easier said
than done, but, always a useful thing to do.
Accepting,
appreciation and celebrating what you have doesn’t mean not striving for more
of what you want. It simply illustrates that the more we cultivate an attitude
of acceptance, appreciation and celebration towards our life, the more life
supports us in providing us the more of what we will appreciate and celebrate!
“Celebrate what you want to see more of.”
– Tom Peters
In the end,
life is what you celebrate. All other dates are forgotten sooner or later. Only
the ones we remembered to celebrate remain in our memories.
Saying
which,
“Appreciate
what you have.
Create what you can.
Celebrate who you are.” - Neha's Notebook
#2Life is an adventure to be explored and I am ready for it!
Almost all
of us have heard this famous dialogue quoted from the movie Rocky,
“Let me tell you something you already know.
The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and
I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you
there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as
life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit
and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s
how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what
you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing
fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody!
Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!” - Rocky
Balboa
As truly
said in this dialogue, life is not sweet all the time. Unlike fairy tales and
fantasies, it is not always a sun-filled lush meadow. Rather, it is filled with
situations which feel horrible and people who act nasty. In fact, most of the
time, life is all about eating peanuts of iron and drinking volcanoes of fire.
It is easier
to live in a familiar state of ignorance forever, and very difficult to look at
oneself in the mirror. Rather, to say it in simpler words, we can say that life
is an adventure, an exploration, a voyage. It might not be perfect, smooth,
pleasant and happy all the time, but it will be as interesting as we choose to
make of it despite all the frightening challenges and bitter moments that it
offers us.
The bitterness
of life is a metaphorical poison that we humans are afraid to face. However,
only by drinking this bitter poison of reality is that we can make peace with
ourselves and others. And so, this reminder is all about reminding yourself
that life is a thrilling adventure and you have all the power to make your way
through this chilling territory of human life. If you are ready for the chills
and the thrills, then who knows, perhaps, you might discover yourself even
swooshing and playing with the skeletals of your DNA, oh yes!
#3You are doing absolutely fantastic…god doesn’t look at you through the
eyes of charts, graphs & progress meters…
Okay. So,
let’s talk about planners and progress charts.
I use them
a lot.
Many people
do.
They’re
super-interesting, especially if we like to track our progress and our overall quality
of life. I do relish the coffee-table feeling of making lists and working endlessly
on a variety of planning & organization systems.
But of
soon, I have also realized that all of this, taken together, is not the
determinant of improvement or progress that we are making in terms of inner
growth but merely a medium.
Instead,
when we start to determine our inner growth on the base of these external
parameters, is that, we begin to hinder or block our own inner self from
progressing in the terms of wholeness and self-awareness. So, this reminder is
to remind ourselves that, irrespective of progress in outer goals, we can
consider ourself to be a fantastic creature, just like bears and boars. Just
like lions, sparrows and squirrels. Their planners are taken care of by the
nature itself. We can also try putting our trust in life too!
So, fret
not. Take it easy. Let it go, and let life move on!
#4This moment is a cloud. Live it before it passes away!
In one way,
“this moment” is something which was always there and which will always be
there. In fact, “this moment” is the only thing that we have in any given point
of time. Even when we’re thinking about some past moment or imagining some
future scenario, we are doing this process in “this moment”.
So, all we
have is “this moment”.
“This moment is all there is.” - Rumi
So, this
reminder is to remind ourselves that no matter how interesting another moment
might be, but this moment is only one and irreplaceable.
Many
similar moments will come but it won’t be the same. So, make sure you live this
moment to the fullest. Whether joy or pain, go straight through it; dive deep
into it!
#5Perhaps the best way to grow in life is to not get too serious about
anything!
When we are
faced with life’s quality of unfairness, it is difficult not to get serious.
But this cannot be denied that the moment we resist the unfairness of life is
the moment we block our own growth.
“Acceptance of what
is, is happiness.” - Unknown
So, we
might get serious from time to time, but never too serious to take this
teeny-weeny life too seriously to not remember that it is not going to last
forever.
#6Remember to laugh today…
If the idea
of laughter doesn’t sync with you, consider giggling
as the second option!
#7I trust that everything is happening for me…
Does life
and everything in life happen for me?
Can we say
it with utmost certainty that it happens for
me and not against me?
Well, no. Nope!
No one can
say it with the point precision of certainty, that, subjectively, life happens for me and not against me. However, there is something which we can say with
certainty.
That is, if
I choose to believe that something is against me, then it will remain against
me. But despite all odds, if I choose to believe that whether an event is
against me or for me, I choose to make the best use of it, for myself.
We must
always allow ourselves to sink into the feelings of utter melancholy and bouts
of grief, howsoever, but only, with the knowledge that all these feelings have been
offered to me by life, so that I can rise beyond them. Even these feelings,
apparently negative, are for me. Too!
A
phrase that implies a cap containing bells, or having bells attached to it,
usually worn as a costume by a professional clown or a court’s jester.
It
is also known by the phrases such as the ‘FOOL’S CAP’ or the ‘JESTER’S HAT’.
#2 Houdini
A
magician or escape artist who possesses fine abilities to escape from chains,
locks, traps, mazes, handcuffs, padlocked containers, or difficult situations.
Someone
who disappears or vanishes all of a sudden without anyone knowing how.
The
term is coined after a famous French magician “HARRY HOUDINI”.
#3 Pandora’s Box
A
source of continuous trouble, problems, conflict or evil.
Something
when started, opened or initiated, leads to innumerable problems or unfortunate
events.
The
phrase has its origins in Greek mythology, according to which, the first woman
of Earth named ‘PANDORA’ unintentionally opened a box which was ‘not’ supposed
to be opened – a box of death, sickness, evil & all kinds of destructive
spirits.
