Day 188/366 days Towards Self-Mastery.
Simplicity, free from anxiety, living in harmony with what is. It's Monday morning, 7.55 am. The perfect time to connect with my son and his father before they head out into their busy days if there's something pressing to convey, or so I thought. Probably not the best timing for those who are stuck on the treadmill of the rat race.
Huge sigh. I'm sitting in the bed in the sunshine writing my daily blog. My day is full and I'll get up to move into it shortly, once this blog is published and posted on Pinterest.
The troubles of the world persist. The change and discontent will always be a feature of our days on this beautiful earth. It's unlikely that we're going to find harmony in our existence anytime soon.
Weighing up our choices is something we have to do individually. Dependence on the current commercial environment is going to leave us stranded. Businesses are failing, creditors are being neglected, debtors no doubt will experience a whole new level of harassment. Such was the tone of this mornings energised responses to my information, shared with loving concern.
My choice is to live simply. That doesn't suggest that I'm about to let anyone off the hook who is planning to mistreat me, should they have a financial commitment to me. And neither should you. I would strongly suggest that you follow every commitment up, and do so with grace.
When we want for less, we have less debt and less need to be connected to the mainstream mayhem. For some that means going off grid and doing it completely in isolation. I can only dream of such an existence.
For me it means living in a rural community on a small and manageable piece of land on which I can carve out my life in peace and harmony with my neighbours and my surrounds.
The decision to simplify came to me decades ago. It was a simple answer to this question. How much of my life do I want to live in anxiety about not being able to make ends meet? I didn't buy the whole, work-hard-save-for-retirement plan. It didn't make sense. All around me were people entering retirement and dealing with stress related illnesses. What was the point of that? Hardly something to look forward to.
There's never been a time that I have been happier with my choices than now. I might just need to post a reminder somewhere prominent to remind me that I'm going to be interacting more and more over the coming months with people who have not made choices that release them from anxiety, and that anxiety is going to be peaking at new levels.
The human condition is one that seeks harmony. That harmony is not always going to be agreeable. Maybe a better word is balance. What that looks like is this. When one person raises their voice, the other person will as well unless they are very zen and know how to manage their energy well. Or when one person has a problem they will turn to another to offload it or spread their unsettled energy around to help them restore internal balance.
The coming months of continued lockdowns and spreading of COVID is going to take everything you've got to stay balanced and calm. My suggestion is to strip away anything that's not essential to your life right now. Take decluttering to a whole new level. Avoid unnecessary conversations about the state of play in the commercial world unless the issue impacts you directly, then get the job done.
Don't hesitate to talk over your stresses with a professional who is trained to help you think things through and make sense of them. I'm talking about psychotherapy, the most helpful and empowering form of life coaching ever.
It's going to be a wild ride out there. Good luck.
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.
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