Day 76/366 days Towards Self-Mastery. Mood: restful
When the pressure is on, our true colours shine through. We've been talking about authenticity a bit lately in this challenge and given that this is a time of great stress globally with this darn coronavirus, we're seeing more of the stuff we are made of on a daily basis.
If we're not aware of our true nature, this is a good time to check in with it. Observing our reactions will tell us a lot about ourselves.
The suggestion for today is to begin to explore our body image and our personality
By taking the time to observe our naked body closely, and then our personality we can begin to know ourselves more authentically.
Write 10 things you observe that you love about your body. When you've completed that, turn to your personality.
Observe your curves, your skin tone and texture, your facial features, the colour of your eyes.
We all too easily can find what's wrong with us. Take this time to find what's right with you.
When you've finished that, pampered yourself and maybe you're ready for bed, turn your attention to your personality.
Observe 10 aspects of your personality that you like. There's not a better time to do that. As I observe my reactions to the current climate of fear and panic, I find that my personality features include:
calmness and clarity around my needs and the preparation that I need to do
nervousness bordering on fear from time to time and I am working out how to transform that
organised, planned and prepared
calmly and directly give sound advice
able to use the tone of my voice to calm people's fear
ability to write stories and blogs that are of value in this situation
persistent and consistent with my approach
These are some of the personality traits that I am experiencing. There's not 10, but I'm happy with them, it's a good start. If you don't list at least 10 of each, repeat this exercise every day until you can.
Sometimes the fear gets a bit overwhelming and I have to work with that to find what's at its source. Then I can breathe again for a while. What a great opportunity to explore fear. It is one of the most difficult emotions to surrender.
Have fun with this. Note what you discover in your journal. My journal is already bulging and it's only day 76.
Stay well. 🌷
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.