Tag: mindfulness

Life happens, you like it or not

Life happens, you like it or not

You like it or not it is yours and for you to live,

Things will change and they are meant to, you like it or not.

Live in the present,
Soak in the space around, enjoy the very moment,
Devour the food in front of you,
Laugh with the loved one,
Listen to the person across the table,
Be involved in the meeting or classroom,
Hug someone completely, enjoy the moment like it is the last because it is!

The moment right now is Unique,
We cannot recreate it,
Every moment is a gift-wrapped for us with love from the creator,
You like it or not it is for you to unwrap.
We can choose to look away, look behind or look ahead but the moment is still here,
The moment is yours and for you to live.

It’s not anyone’s loss that you didn’t enjoy the moment but yours,
You can wallow all that you want on what was done or said or happened,
You can regret what didn’t happen or happened,
You can pine for what you don’t deserve,
You can chase for what you don’t want,
For life is still happening in the now, the moment is what we lose when we are chasing the then and later.

It’s not too late, it’s now or never,
Choose to live in the now or to look at the past,
NOW will give you learnings and a lot of opportunities,
THEN will tickle your brain and remind you of what is in the past,
NOW will give you what you didn’t get in the past,
But if you are busy looking behind, you will lose what is in the front,
For it’s not past that gives what you need but the present,
Look now, look in here, look within, look around, this is life, my dear.

Life is what happens while you chase the past or dream of the future,
Life is what you are missing because you are not in the present.
You did not choose your past but you can choose your NOW,
The choice is yours, to make the change,
Enjoy it while it lasts or look behind and complain in the end.

For life is what happens in the now my friend,
NOW is a choice, choose what you want,
Breathe in deeply and soak in the NOW,
It might be good or bad or painful but it is the truth,
You can choose to run away or hide but it won’t cease to happen,
If you live in the NOW the moment will cease soon, I promise,
Because change is life and nothing is here to stay.

There is a day after night, there is a rainbow after the rain, there is summer after winter, you like it or not,
Life is what is happening now my friend, you want it or not.

The Unseen Bear

I was fortunate to travel to Yellow Stone last year and was excited about the hikes. The beautiful drive, vegetation, the different terrains blew my mind every second. One of the few times I have been present in “the now” as I had no time to look back or look ahead as Nature was in my company and she didn’t let me detract. Mother Nature is a healer and no one can do that job better than her is so true.

The moment I reached the hotel several signs freaked me out. The signage which said beware of Bear, how to protect myself from the Bear , what to do and what not to do, and mush more. The educational videos and immumerable sign boards tightened my chest. My stomach churned at the possibility of a bear attack. I wasnt sure if hiking was a good idea but then went with the flow.

The trails were beautiful and mesmerising while I enjoyed the view partially mostly my focus was on the bear. My mind was a whirl wind of questions, Was it following me? Was it closer? Did I just hear the Bear? Or was it wind? What will I do if it comes in front of me, will I remember all the things to do, so on and so forth. All the 5 days the terrains were differnet but fear remained the same. Was I living or dying was the question to answer here 🙂

After I left the place it got me thinking. Isn’t that the way we live everyday? With the fear of the unknown. With all the assumptions and adverse effects all created by our beautiful minds. The worst nightmares or horror stories spun by the mind. We dont realise that life is in the present moment and the best we can do is be present in the moment. We are looking at the Bears of the past and the Bears of the future and most times we dont even know what is the fear we harbour. Its the fear of the unknown. Its an epiphany that thinking about things or fretting about circumstances will not change the outcome. In my experince 80% of all that I thought or feared will happen has never ever happened. So maybe I am not good at it and should give up predicting future. Fear is good if it drives us to achieve something but it cripples us if we over think.

Fear or Faith choice is Ours, I chose faith in life and living in the present moment, what would you choose?

Wishing you peace!

Bee

 

 

 

Life should come with a label “limited time offer!”

Image Courtesy – Google

It was just another day for me, doing my mundane chores. Keeping myself busy and then a beep on my WhatsApp app shattered me. I was heartbroken to read about Sridevi’s demise. I have several reasons for this as the Diva left me with a lot of learnings. I feel unsettled; I feel uncomfortable as I am reminded that life is uncertain and death is the only certainty for us humans.

She looked gorgeous, she looked fit, she had her stardom and a happy family, and all this is what we saw or what was visible to us on social media. I know they are stars and have to keep up with the glamour world. I understand that the competition is too high and I may not even have kept up to 54 if I was her. She was very young, and all this was all too fast, I wonder how her family will come to terms with this loss. I wish her soul rests in peace .

I grew up watching her; she is one woman who has made me laugh in movies. I somehow was unknowingly connected to her I guess, though I haven’t watched all her films. Never have I made any effort to follow her on social media, yet the news was heartbreaking. I was wondering why did it hurt me?

It taught me life is short and how short no one knows. We must be prepared to embrace death any moment.

I realized I am conditioned to keep away from the subject “death”. I was always discouraged from discussing death because it is not positive. Alas!I learned that it is the only confirmed event in our life and hence has to be openly spoken about. I searched for talks on death last evening and watched them on ted.com(There are some interesting ones if you are interested)

I learned that fitness or nothing we do would guarantee a long life. I have innumerable limiting beliefs I became aware of in myself. It struck me that the only thing that matters is if we lived our life to the fullest when we breathed our last. When it is the time, we have to leave.

I became aware that we are all a spec of dust and can vanish in no time. However BIG we are in the society we are not indispensable, and life goes on.

I realized that living with the thought that we are here for a limited period might snap us out of our past(which is over) and maybe help us stop brooding over the future(which is uncertain).

I realized all I want is to be remembered as a woman who lived her life to the fullest and someone who loved her laugh lines.

I realized that yesterday is in my mind and tomorrow is again a game of the brain and all I have is just the present moment. The fact is in most cases we are fine now yet unhappy because of the thoughts we carry. All the negativity and pain are in mind.

I learned that I am running out of time and the fact is nothing can tell us how much time are we left with.

I realized rules stop us from living; society is in my mind. It’s my life, and only I can live it. Finally, I die alone.

Procrastinating will only ensure I am dead soon as time waits for none as that word stops us from living life.

Laugh out Loud – Love yourself – Live Life is the only way to be happy and the only way we can spread happiness.

Many more thoughts and realizations occurred to me in the last 24 hours. Sridevi left a message loud and clear for me, and I will always be eternally thankful to her. What if I don’t wake up tomorrow morning? Will I have regrets for things I left undone? Will I have a happy story or a sad one in my timeline when my life flashes in the last moment? So here I am making my best efforts to live now.

Do you agree that we have limited time or are you still willing to live like death doesn’t exist? Do you believe that not talking about it will evade it? If today was the last day of your life what are the things you will do? You may want to think.

I wish you a happy life!
Bindu

 

 

How not to be Mind-full! (Three simple everyday practices that help me be mindful. )

When I say the word “mindfulness,” I see people smirk or roll their eyes most times.  I am aware that their reaction is not because they find me amusing but because they don’t understand the word mindfulness. Living in the moment, being able to listen to the mind chatter and being entirely present to it is a huge task. It appears very simple. But simple is not easy.

mindful

There are ways to create self-awareness, and these are things I have followed and continue to every day.

mindful 1

Firstly, pause every 10 minutes and recollect what was the mind chattering while we were busy going about our daily lives. Make a mental note of all the points and continue with the chores. This practice can be repeated as frequently as possible in the beginning as this draws attention inwards and helps us focus on the present moment.

mindful 2

Secondly, being aware of the breath can be a huge revelation trust me as we don’t like anything being repetitive.

Breathe deeply being aware of the air entering and leaving the nostrils. Deep breathing can be practiced all day for at least a few weeks. It becomes a habit eventually. We have to become aware that we are alive by the fragile breath and focus on it entirely. There are apps like calm and apple watch that can help us with mindful breathing. I prefer my body clock over the applications to avoid dependency.

mindful 3

Thirdly, we should develop the art to listen and be ok with the negative self-talk, the horror stories that run inside our heads. It means we do not resist a thought but listen to it and be thankful that we are aware of all that is happening inside us. Always remember resistance makes the problem seem prominent than it is, so why not acknowledge the thought and befriend it.

I laugh at myself so many times when my mind whirls up negative thoughts as I am aware of its pattern and very well understand what can happen if I fall prey to it. Mindfulness ensures that we operate the mind and not vice-versa. Our mind can be that Robot in a Hollywood movie which captures the world and destroys everything until we realize the robot has a creator and also a remote control.

 

Being in control of life and being able to listen to all that and smile it off is a way we can remain sane with ourselves and our relationships. I have practiced all these, and it has helped me immensely hence wanted to share with all of you. The day we realize that we can control our mind unlike what it has done to us all these years we win the battle.