Day 360/366 days Towards Self-Mastery.
Am I wrong when I say that we all search for happiness? Joy or some iteration of joy seems to be at the basis of everyone's yearnings.
We want to live well. That well might be translated as joyfully, happily, challenged, accomplished, doing meaningful things. Any number of descriptions to highlight the desire to feel good within.
If you don't feel good within, don't settle. If you are going to strive, strive to understand your life and how to feel more ... your iteration of joyful.
The whole commercial world is built around meeting our pain, satisfying our pain. And in some cases, pointing out our pain so that we think that the solution is outside of us.
It is never outside of us.
Yes there are many lovely things that make us feel momentarily good. The measure of our feeling good, or at least mine, is contentment. Am I happy today? Do I feel contented and full today?
Yes I may have some upsets from time to time. Do they linger? Do I dwell on them at the expense of my overall joy?
You'll know if you are living well or living in misery.
Never give up on finding the solutions.
I didn't give up. I needed to understand what happened to me. I was driven to understand my life process, my way of doing life. The whys, the wherefores.
It's not only about your choices and competencies. It's also about your history, your adjusting to life, your ancestors.
Avoid the shame spirals associated with feeling wrong and feeling judged.
There were many times I was distracted by well-meaning others, but I kept coming back to the same driving intention.
What is wrong? Why are things the way they are? What happened in my life? Why am I not able to maintain good relationships? Why do I struggle to feel good about myself?
I've heard all the platitudes about there's nothing wrong. Everything is just how it's meant to be. You know what I'm talking about. And I've said these things myself to others. They are all true to some extent, but not helpful if they are not in tune with where you are right now.
Now I can say that you are right where you are meant to be, enquiring about what happened, how to see and understand the way you do life.
There really is nothing wrong, just things that don't work anymore as they once did. Just ancestor's experiences that still resonate within you and are asking for an adjustment.
Strive to understand yourself, the way you do life, the actions and reactions that come spontaneously from you.
We have implicit and explicit memory. The explicit stuff is within our control. The implicit stuff is hidden and drives most of our reactions.
Work with the implicit in anyway you find most helpful. Meditation, mindfulness practices, and really good therapists.
Know yourself deeply and intimately. You will discover yourself and you'll fall in love.
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.