Five Tips to Stay Calm Through the Holiday
December 18, 2018
Becoming More Objective About Your Life
February 12, 2019
It’s mid-January, perhaps the holiday glow has already warn off, and
you’re either overwhelmed or depressed thinking about the mountains you
will need to climb in the year ahead? Or perhaps you’re assuming it will
be the same old depressing year as last year?
When the mind is in this state it tends to think in black or white type
thinking. ‘It’s always going to be like this.’ OR, ‘I will never get to
where I want.’ Or, ‘I don’t have it in me to keep going like this.’
This is your cue to heed caution if you decide to listen to your mind
(which I get is hard not to do sometimes). But these are only thoughts,
which means they are not completely true. And when they are black and
white, it is especially likely that they are less true.
When we’re thinking this way, the mind is usually in either the past or
the future. The problem with this is that we are not in the present
moment.
Real aliveness only exists here in the present. This means that by
remaining in the past, or perhaps longing for a different future, you
are closing yourself off to possibilities that actually exist in the
here and now.
Sometimes the challenge is that the future looks so much more alluring
(I’m thinking of that warm beach in Mexico, while it is minus 20 here
today). BUT, while you are sitting thinking about that warm beach,
you’re not really here. And the only real place is the here and now…
And if that feels depressing, find a way to help yourself make it feel
more uplifting. Perhaps carving out some time for a hot bath, or
enjoying a delicious warm meal. Ideally any activity that helps to quiet
the mind, even just a little. When the mind is quiet, we are more
naturally inclined to reside in the here and now (and to feel more
peaceful). And this is the place where miracles can actually happen…
So the next time you find yourself feeling depressed about the future,
or wishing you were on that family vacation again. Take a breath. Find a
way to relax. And carve out some YOU time.
I’ll be right here beside you, cheering you on. 😊
