I don’t remember where I read this, but the tale struck a chord.

Once a teacher asked his students to fill a glass of water and carry it in their hand, all day long. They were not supposed to let it down even for a second and then report the next day how it felt.

The students, obviously, had a difficult time holding the glass all day. That’s when the teacher explained how, if they had such physical pain holding a glass in their hand all day, how much mental and emotional trouble they must experience carrying the mental baggage all their lives.

I am sure you are aware of this mental baggage…

Grudges

Anger

Expectations

Guilt

Sorrow

Fear

Anxiety

These are some of the emotions I have carried with me for a long time, as I am sure you must have, too. It must have gotten inexplicably exhausting, isn’t it? Despite knowing that it is pointless holding these feelings in our heart, we still continue, putting immense pressure on our mind and causing much trauma in the process.

No amount of self-care will help unless we let go of this excess baggage that hampers our progress and holds us down.

And,  rule number one of self-care is to not hold such negativity within us that is the cause of our stress.

Negative emotions, toxic people who ruin our peace of mind, thoughts that cause anxiety and stress, the burden of others’ expectations, and our expectations from others–it’s such torture living with this unnecessary clutter in our mind!

 

LEARN TO LET GO:

1 Learning to control the mind takes ages, but once we master it, nothing can ever take us back to our old ways!

2 Practise mindfulness. This comes in handy for almost each of Life’s problems–that’s what I have experienced.

3  Accept Life as it is and accept people as they are. Again, very difficult to do, but, frankly, we have no choice, do we? However much we try, we cannot change either our fate or the way others think.

4  Let go of expectations. It is the number one cause of heartache. Instead, expect things from yourself, because you know what you want and how to work towards it!

5  Let go of people who serve no purpose in your Life. Distance yourself from toxic people–people who do not care about your wellbeing, who use you, abuse you, hurt you, walk all over you and leave you broken are the ones you ought to get away from. Just snap the ties. What’s the worse that could happen?

6  Let go of the guilt, for however much you try, you cannot keep everyone happy. Keep yourself happy, instead, and live your life the way you wish. It’s your Life, after all!

7  Let go of anger, for it’s the poison that can kill you. it can never have any effect on others, except you.

8  Let go of grudges. These, too, ruin only your peace of mind.

9 Get help for your anger and anxiety issues. It really helps.

10 De-clutter your mind, regularly, the way you de-clutter your home.

Keep the thoughts that spark joy, discard those that bring tears.

Maintain a journal and jot down the thoughts that cause you heartache, stress, anger and anxiety. Once you have written it all, read it aloud. Read it again the next day, and the next, until you realise it’s fruitless holding on to these painful emotions. Trust me, it works.

Life is a journey. To make it delightful,  why not let go of all the unwanted baggage and travel light?

What say you?

 

Love,

SHILPA…

 

 

This post is written for the April A to Z Blogging Challenge, and my theme this year is, ‘SELF-CARE’. You will find all the A to Z posts here. 

 

There are days when everything about Life feels fabulous, positive and full of hope. There’s a spring in our step and confidence in our heart that come what may, we will handle it all with grace and strength. And, we do! We face every crisis with courage and come out of it all, stronger and wiser.

But, there are also days when we lose all hope and physically feel our vitality abandoning us, leaving us frail and helpless.

It’s for such days when all you need are words of wisdom, oF reassurance, that we can, and will, face it, fight it and emerge, successfully.

Just a few words full of positivity is all it takes to put that spring back in our step and the hope in our hearts. And, have you noticed how, it’s precisely when we need those words, that they seem to come to us from an unexpected source–maybe in a book we read, or the headlines in a newspaper, or even through someone’s speech–and we are left stunned, and revived, too?

I am sure you must have experienced it sometime in your Life. I have, and it felt like someone up there was listening to my prayer!

So, today, I am sharing these affirmations to restore your vitality and help you get back on track on days when you feel you have lost your strength.

Affirmations are the best way to encourage ourselves–one of the best ways to self-care. So, read on and do add some of your own favourite ones to the list. We all need these words of wisdom at every juncture in Life, don’t we?

 

10 AFFIRMATIONS TO INCREASE OUR VITALITY:

1  I will have a great day today.

2  I am happy as I wake up to this new dawn and I look forward to what the day has in store for me.

3  I am healthy and happy.

4  My health and vitality improve each day.

5 I have a wonderful life and amazing people who love me unconditionally.

6 I am capable enough to face all that comes my way.

7  I love myself–flaws and all–and am proud of myself.

8  I am strong, healthy and in perfect shape for my age.

9  I have plentiful energy and vitality that helps me take all that comes my way.

10  I am full of positivity and there is no place for negativity in my Life.

 

A few of these affirmations I need everyday, especially the first and the last one. For, there are days when my anxiety levels are a bit high for reasons unknown and I find myself too frightened and weak to get through the day.

And, thus, these affirmations that I intend to begin the day with.

 

How about you? Do you have any more affirmations you would like to share with me?

 

Love,

SHILPA…

 

 

This is my post for the April A to Z Blogging Challenge. My theme this year is, ‘SELF-CARE’. You will find all the posts here. 

 

 

 

 

Do you remember those days from some years ago, when life was so much simpler and peaceful? There were no notification ting disrupting the peace of the day, nor gadgets that stole the limelight.

We could do a hundred things on weekends–chores, rest or entertainment, we got it all done and still had some time for more. But, how it all changed with the arrival of the internet! Our peace went for a toss, and so did our time, that has now become a precious commodity we are forever running short of.

Our day begins and ends with the gadgets, and all through the day we are checking out stuff that, if we fail to read, could as well spell the end of the world for us! We stay plugged in almost 24 hours of the day and wish we had some more hours at our disposal so that we could cram in some more work.

But, have you for a moment paused to think where this is leading us?

Living our life in the virtual world, working every free minute, toiling all day either meeting deadlines, or surfing the net, we are only inching towards self-destruction, you know?

How about making a slight change to better your life, instead?

Simply by developing a teeny-tiny habit of unplugging once a week we can change it all!

Unplugging as in, keeping the Wi-Fi of our phone switched off, putting our laptop/computer away and keeping the television off (if one is a TV junkie) and spending time doing things that need us to move around, interact with our family/friends, spend time away from our screens.

Here are a few reasons why you need to unplug on a weekly basis:

1 Staring at the screens all day has its side-effects, especially on our physical health. The continuous staring strains the eyes and can lead to dry eyes because we forget to blink when we stare at our screens. This could lead to eye diseases in the future.

2  Bending our head to look at our screens affects the neck and the shoulder muscles that tend to become stiff and this leads to the pain we often experience from hours of sitting at our work stations without a break.

3  Our back, too, bears the brunt of sitting hunched up for hours in front of our computers. WIth lack of time, we hardly indulge in any exercise that could give our spine, neck, arms, shoulders and eyes some workout.

4  Staying in constant connection with the virtual world leads to distancing with the real world we live in. It affects our relationships with our close ones as we are mentally and emotionally far away despite being physically by their side.

5 Our mind needs the change of scene. Thanks to the million things at our disposal, our concentration has reduced, drastically, and we cannot focus on anything for more than a couple of minutes. And, so that we keep up our mental health, we need to give our mind that much-needed recharging by focusing on the  world around us.

 

Agreed, that unplugging just once a week will not make much of a difference to our health, but it will definitely become a habit we will enjoy. And, once it becomes a habit, we will strive to indulge in it oftener. This will go a long way in restoring our physical, mental and emotional health, and help us live better lives.

So, what do you plan on doing this Sunday?

Unplug and enjoy a quiet day and see the difference!

 

Love,

SHILPA…

 

 

 

 

I am participating in the April A to Z Blogging Challenge and my theme is, ‘SELF-CARE’. You will find all the A to Z posts here.