“No one outside us can rule us inwardly. When we know this, we become free”
-Buddha
Do you feel that life is spinning at a rate of a hundred miles an hour?
Do you struggle to catch your breath – be it at work or at home?
Do you just want to take a long break – similar to a bear hibernating, so you too can come out feeling refreshed?
If any of the above resonates with you, then it is time for you to do a reality check.
From the minute we become adults and decide to move out of our parent’s house, we are surrounded with a lot of options. I mean there are options when we are young too, but our parents help us out then.
As adults, we have option to fill our time with phones and friends – we hate being alone. Option to spend our money on things we don’t need, to please people we don’t need to – we hate saying ‘no’. Option to keep working overtime, more than what is required – we are afraid that we might lose our job otherwise! Option to eat out most of the time – we get tired from doing and doing. Option to take up a hobby – we have many excuses (no time, too old).
These are the easy options, but the bad ones.
There are other options too..
- Making time for exercise – at least half hour every day
- Making time to cook nutritious food for yourself and your family – foundation for a healthy future
- Making sure you allocate specific time to your job and focus 100% – so you can put it away at the end of the day and call it a day
- Spending quality time everyday with family – rather than scrolling endlessly on social media
- Letting children be children – instead of signing up for a gazillion classes, choose one or two they love. Let them fill the rest of their time with curiosity (not TV)
- Surrounding yourself with friends who uplift you and saying ‘no’ to the rest.
- Doing ‘nothing’ every now and then; just being – get curious about the world!
Some of the latter options will help you to not be bound by the pressures of the world around you. You need to stock take your life, make a list of all the things that bring pleasure to you – things you really enjoy. If your list is a long one, list them in order of priority and keep your top three or five. Only choose a few that truly make you feel joyful and full of life. There will be another time for making a new list.
At first you might feel that you are missing out on life. But as you keep practicing ‘doing less’, life will be more fun. You will discover yourself and enjoy a new way of being – one that will fill you with calm and nourishment rather than panic and tiredness.
Remember, you life is your choice and you only get one chance.
Lots of love and light,
Obu
