365 days project 2. Day 62. Finding peace of mind

   In a fast forward type of world where peace seems like a utopia, something adults wish for their birthday and Christmas and a dream achieved only by Buddhist monks, what can we actually do to have peace of mind?

   I thought a lot about this concept today. Of course I'm not a VILC - very important life coacher or some sort of guru. I've studied psychology but that doesn't make me wise. Not yet. So you can take the things I'm going to write about as a nice story to read or you can try to implement them in your life and see if they work. I'm talking purely based on my personal experience.

   I noticed that we talk the talk but we don't really walk the walk when we say we want to be at peace. No, really! Think about it. What have you actually done lately to be at peace? 

   You see, someone wise once said that first you have to be at peace with yourself and only then you can be at peace with the others. There are so many things that upset us, disappoint us, frustrate us or annoy us daily. And when that happens, I don't know about you, but I feel a pressure in my stomach and then I know I am feeling negative energy growing inside me. As much as I don't like the feeling, it helps me take action. Because when I feel that pressure I know something's wrong and I can stop and analyse what has just happened. I think that one important step in achieving peace of mind is trying to find an explanation to what happened, the source of the negative energy. The way we interpret the world brings us closer or pushes us further away from peace of mind. It's normal to not be all sunshine and rainbows every day. Being sad, upset, dissatisfied or frustrated is normal, but wallowing in those negative emotions doesn't help you or the others. Therefore, think about it. What made you feel like that? What can you do to fix the problem so you can be happy again? 

   Another step to reaching peace of mind is accepting what is happening to you. Sometimes some things will upset you but unfortunately you can't control everything. So if you just accept that other people might have different values, interests, needs and desires the world might seem less grim. So, take it as it comes. Don't stress about it, it will only bring negative energy around you. And then you're back to square one.

   Stop comparing yourself to the others. I've said it a thousand times and I'll say it again. You are different, they are different, but we can all live together in a happy world if you start liking yourself more and stop caring about what the others are doing. Are they happy? Good for them! What's stopping you from being happy? Remember, the way you interpret the world will make your day sunny or rainy :)

   Also, I recently read that going out in the nature to take a walk or just to sit down on a blanket and enjoy the view helps your brain relax and brings the wonderful feeling of peace of mind. How amazing is that?
   What are you waiting for? It's summer, go  out in the nature and relax. Peace of mind is sure to follow :) 

  

365 days project 2: Day 18. Let's be childlike

 

   A child's world is very small. He only knows what he loves: his family, his toys, his buddies at the kindergarten and that's all he needs to be happy. An adult's world is bigger. Way bigger. It involves many responsabilities, wishes, hopes and needs, taxes, parents of his own, kids, a house and so many more. A parent's happiness is always different from that of their child. He eagerly awaits for the night to come and the kids to go to sleep so that he can enjoy some time for himself. But in all this daily rush people forget that every child is a blessing and that we should be thankful for them and learn from them... how to be very honest but also how to give compliments without expecting anything in return, how to love without boundaries, how to ask for what we want until we get it and how to love life without regrets. 

   For kids there's only today. No yesterday and no tomorrow. Let's learn from them and be happy we have them around. They are all little gems that can make our day more beautiful if only we allow them to :)

365 project 2: Day 3. Changing the world

   Today I thought about change. I talked about it so many times before. I thought about it just as many times late at night in bed or randomly during the day in my office or on a bench outside. Change doesn't happen suddenly, just like I said yesterday. We need time and determination. Motivation to change.

   We influence one another every single day. Do we need to change ourselves for the world? I think we do. At least when we realize something is going wrong, when something WE are doing has bad consequences, it hurts people and it prevents them from being happy around us... as lovers, parents, siblings or friends. 

   We all have light and darkness inside of us and we can choose. Do we let the Hulk get out and ruin our friendships and our relationships or do we keep it under control and we start working on ourselves FIRST and then expect people to change instead of the other way around. Change must come from within.

                Think about it. What would you change about yourself in order to change the world?

*Painting made by my best friend, Julia

The other pieces of myself

Dear diary,

    You know that cliché saying that goes something like "they fit like two pieces of a puzzle"? Until some days ago I thought it meant "they fit like the only two pieces of a puzzle that go together and their encountering is so rare and fortunate". Which is wrong. That's only true if it's a 2 pieces puzzle for "3+ months". Otherwise, we're all just a random middle piece of a 500 pieces puzzle and we match between 2 and 4 other pieces either to our left, right, above or below. So no, in that big pool of 499 pieces left, we don't match just ONE, kids. Look around, we're incomplete without the other neighboring pieces! The big puzzle will only be complete after all the pieces are found. 

   Some pieces are smart and hard-working and they don't give up so easily because they love puzzles so they find their mates easily and they'll be soon ready to get matched up with other puzzle groups. Other pieces are waiting to be found. Some wait a lot. But in the end, the world is a small place... uhm, puzzle. So they will eventually be found and the puzzle will be complete. Thing is, today we might encounter the piece that fits to our left but tomorrow we might as well find the one that fits to our right. And we'll feel just as awesome. But remember, the puzzle isn't complete until all the missing pieces are in their right spot! 

   So look around and enjoy meeting the other pieces. They might be "the sky" and you might be "the grass" but I bet you'll have things to share. In the end, we're all part of the same puzzle.

Puzzled,

D.

My little bubble

Dear diary,

   I had that aha moment again. So I remembered I HAVE to write to you. You know how every day we see dozens of new faces (or maybe old faces we don't remember) and we still focus on our little bubble full with desires, needs and emotions and we forget all about the presence of others? It's funny how one random day you just "wake up" realizing you're Not alone in the world and that you're actually Always surrounded by people but somehow, you can't explain how, you're so caught up in your own web that you feel you're living on your own planet. And that day, when you wake up and you look around you see thousands of other webs that interconnect with yours. And when you lift your eyes you see other eyes just as confused as yours. Hmm... so many people, so many life stories, so many webs:) 

   I remember that once, when I was younger I wished I had the power to just look a person in the eyes and know their entire life. But now I know that would be a too heavy burden to bear. Maybe our brain is focused on our own life because it has to preserve it and it knows how to. What good would it do if we constantly noticed the others and we compared ourselves to them? We do that anyhow, but just paying too much attention would be destructive, I think, especially since we probably won't see that person again. 

   So in the end, ignorance truly is bliss. But that doesn't mean we should walk watching our shoes. There's a whole world outside the bubble and maybe one day we'll want to "wake up" and realize there are people out there whose webs can influence us for the better... and we can focus on them. 

   The world beyond our little bubble is a wonderful place and we should never cease to be amazed. 

Awake,

D.

Day 346. That special feeling

   From time to time you get that special feeling of being in love with the world. It's that unexplainable thing that makes you be high on happiness, that feeling of "I wouldn't change anything about how my life looks right now." You forget about anything that needs to be solved, anything that's not perfect and you just wear that dumb smile on your face and you feel like you'd hug everybody. 

   That feeling usually comes on a perfect summer evening. You just lay down in the sunset light, close your eyes and realize you finished solving the puzzle, that every piece is now put in its right place and you're proud to have figured things out. You open your eyes and you're still smiling. Because you're looking forward to solving the next puzzle life has prepared for you. And because you know that if you were able to finish all the ones you were given until now, you're trained enough to finish the ones to come too. And that gives you strength and peace. The peace of knowing you're in control. What better feeling do you need?:)

Day 297. The gift that keeps on giving

   We're all here with a purpose. Not only to enjoy the gifts we're receiving and live a happy life, but also to pay it forward and help people around us. Not because we have to, but because we want to be good and make the world a better place. 

   How do we do that? Help without expecting anything in return. Help for the sake of seeing people happy. Prove that there's more to life than money and power.

   It might sound hard to accomplish it but if we truly believe in this quest, nothing is too big. You know what they say, when there's a will there's a way:) And in the end, what goes around comes around.

Day 197. The beginning

   You'd say they look like angels, wouldn't you?:) Well they are. Until you give them a reason to laugh at other people. Of course, when they are in their first year of kindergarten they don't acknowledge much, but in their second year you'd expect they would have learned some rules by now. 

   It's sad to see that the little ones begin to bully their classmates at this age. And it's even sadder how quickly their listen to somebody if they tell them to bully a classmate. Then, how can we prevent this phenomenon from expanding in primary school if we can't work with them because their brain isn't fully developed yet? Does it really help if we repeat the rules every day? Do they really start believing them or do they just nod like "yeah, whatever you say lady, we know what we should do but laughing it's so much fun"?

   As always, I wish I could change the world. But what if the world can't be changed? What if it doesn't want to be changed? Hmmm? What then?:)

Day 13. Immersed in the past

Wow! I LOVED the surprise life gave me today! I had to attend a meeting for the school psychologists and we gathered in the Festive Hall of a high school. I could have never expected SUCH a festive hall! My dear God, it was like I stepped into another world, a classy world of the past. I loved everything in there: the windows and their curtains, the elegant chairs, the cuckoo clock and most of all, the chandeliers<3 The finishing touch was a beautiful quote hanging on a wall, a quote by my favourite priest (and also the wisest): Bartolomeu Anania. So I chose to upload 2 photos today. Only because you HAVE to see the quote as well!:)