Clear the Clutter This Holiday Season: Achieve Mental Clarity and Simplify Your Celebrations

If You Say Meditate One More Time

Jokes apart, here’s a fact. For the past few years, we have been living two lives, both online and offline. It’s seriously about time we incorporate pockets of silence in our daily lives – and shut off external stimuli a few minutes a day.

OK, let’s see if we can adopt a daily practice of silence without using the word “Meditation” to describe it. I say this because this task of “not doing anything, just being” has gotten such a bad rap, it’s just as scary as the word “Mindfulness”.

Seriously though, being task free, and not consuming anything actively is so important for our mental health. It calms us down, makes us balanced, focused and reflective. What better way to de-stress and prune our brain of negative emotions?

There are so many ways to begin. With no particular end “goal” in mind, simply sit and stare. Observe your thoughts, and develop the muscle of letting go. It can feel like the most natural thing to do if you can sit outdoors and become a part of nature’s timeline.

Only when you shut down the external stimuli, you can listen to your inner wisdom.

Still don’t like to meditate. Then color some Mandalas. Science shows that when we stare at geometric patterns, our mind mimics them to create vibrations within itself thereby having a soothing effect on us.

Truly Present In Our Presence

Every day, we live our lives within the boundaries of what our 5 sense organs can perceive as reality. Somedays, that’s just not enough. We question ourselves if there’s something much more to our mundane existence.

We begin to look for meaning in our experiences of the past and long for a different future while missing out on what the present moment offers. Our thoughts about our challenges and responsibilities can weigh us down. But, there’s a way we can hold onto the feeling of bliss that lies within us. Behold the wonder in the present moment to understand long lasting happiness can only be experienced from inside out. Grab those pockets of silence to restore and rejuvenate your inner spirit.

How Chaos Robs Our Peace And Joy

One thing is certain. A life of meaning and fulfillment cannot coexist with stress, chaos and break-neck busyness.

We all crave a sense of order, balance and calm in a world of information overload. And in this daily pursuit, we find ourselves even more lost. By adopting a compassionate approach to ourselves, we can stop chasing the perfect version of life that doesn’t really exist. We can stop the overwhelm and anxiety that are byproducts of our daily grind.

When we slow down, we have a chance to grab onto small pockets of joy as life passes by. Only in stillness, we can understand our intrinsic motivation to do things that we love.

Only in the quietness of our mind, we can listen to our inner voice. Only when we slow down, we can evaluate our progress and recalibrate where we’re headed.

We all want to live productive and meaningful lives. Yet, we also want our days to be simplistic and free from regrets and worries. Clarity in thoughts, and actions brings purpose to life for us as adults.

Teach your children the importance of having role clarity in what he or she has to do:

• As a student
• As a citizen
• And as a teenager

Personal accountability for children comes with role clarity and strength finding.

Clarity Is The Side Affect

The ability to see the bright side of situations and people is great gift that can be taught. The ability to appreciate one’s own unique abilities and the abundance around them frees up time and energies to focus on important goals.

Clarity of thought is important, so we can make that one choice that matters – especially when we’re confused and overwhelmed with options. It’s one of the pillars of FutureSTRONG Academy for this reason.

Clarity in prioritization and clarity of purpose can help us analyze our situation and the road we’ve to take – most importantly, understand, “Why we are doing what we’re doing.”

Clarity helps us stay focused on the big picture while setting small achievable goals in its direction. Clarity in thought, purpose and action is empowering. How clear are you?

Inhale The Present

Invisible things in our life can cause harm, terror and death. But there are also invisible things in nature that bring the warm of the sunlight to us, the blossoms of spring flowers and the joy that fills our hearts.

Get out. Look up to see the beauty that’s all around us. Some of the best things in life are free.

And when did we forget that UNBUSY:
1. Is a choice
2. Is not laziness

Leave some space to just ponder over your place in your family, our community, and in this world.

Nature Is Our Detox

Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito’s wing that falls on the rails… If the engine whistles, let is whistle till it is hoarse for its pains. If the bell rings, why should we run? I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born. – Henry David Thoreau

Meditation in its noun form means true nature. Contemplation is the art of remembering who we truly are. Reflection leads to contemplation which guides us to meditation.

There are two primary reasons to adopt pockets of silence every day. At best, to feel a deep sense of gratitude for everything we have. And at a minimum, to reflect on the meaning and purpose of our life. After all, silence is the space you’re giving yourself to grow.

For the love of our smartphones and our digital lives, please unplug often and live out in the open, literally!

Adopt Mental Speed Bumps

Whatever you’re doing in nature – walking, star gazing, or watching the rhythmic sounds of waves hitting shore, was meant to lend the necessary speed breaks for our busy lives. Thank goodness to nature, there’s a chance to make our days feel timeless.

As you’re one with nature, it helps your mind become balanced, focused and reflective. From the inside out, you start evaluating every relationship you are part of, including the deepest one with yourself. Are you insecure, insensitive and selfish in your relationships?

Whatever happened to your patience, forgiveness and more importantly the vision of where you want to be? Why are you moving so fast without gaining clarity in your perception and truth?

The greatest wonder of the world is that we all live like we’re going to live forever. If there’s any time and place to unbusy yourself, it’s now. And this holiday, have some candid fun, that kinda fun where you don’t have to line up to take pictures for.

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