Calm in the Jungle

There's no hurry.

"Once upon a time .." Nah

"People love stories. So, let me introduce you to.." No way

"Do you feel like this too when .." ???

See! I genuinely don't know how to start my first blog.

What I do understand though is how wild and powerful our thoughts are. I believe as it is this potent, it is important for each of us to channel its energy the right way.

The Jungle

On this note, let's meet Jade. Jade wants to do extraaaordinary. She wants to ace it in every sphere of her life. Needless to say, career-wise she wants to be at the top. Jade wants to be the life of every party she goes to. She wants to have stability and fun in her relationships, a big mansion, everyone's validation, love, care, fun, money and what not!

In a desperate attempt to reach her best self at the earliest, her mind keeps running. A little faster everyday. Her mind has now become a jungle. Herself the prey and her thoughts the predator.

Do I think it is because she is being too ambitious? No.

One issue I see that might eat up Jade is her hurry. Second and equally important, the need for social validation.

Beating the Hurry Bug

Probably, most of us have been in Jade's shoes some time or the other. Fun fact, I am too (since a long time)! Always in a hurry. I'm far better than me in the previous year but there's a lot more to go.

But you know what I've realized recently? We can make it easier for ourselves only by putting in some effort.

It really eats you up because the one thing that comes complimentary with the feeling of hurry is the underlying pressure. Pressure neither heals nor helps in the long run.

So, the moment I feel the hurry bug is starting to bite me, I do one of these 3 things -

1. Affirmations

It works wonders. Positive affirmations help me to rewire my mind. Look in the mirror and appreciate yourself for not giving up.

Relax your shoulders and repeat any of these -

a. "I am cool, calm and relaxed."

b. "I handle everything."

c. "Inhale, exhale. I take time to do both fully."

2 . Prioritizing

"We tend to overestimate what we can do in a day, and underestimate what we can do in a year"

Not sure if it was Bill Gates who said this but this quote hits home. 5 tasks everyday is enough to reach your dream self. Two paragraphs won't do justice to how we can master the art of prioritizing but there are some crazy good content for this online so please check it out.

I prioritize mainly based on the urgency, the time taken to complete each task and identifying what I feel the most like doing (if there's nothing urgent on my plate). For intense tasks which need to be completed but I do not like it one bit - I just start. Because if I never start, it remains just an idea or it is the food I feed the hurry bug and we don't want that.

3 . Music and Alone time

You know. Soft music, hard rock, or whatever makes me feel at peace. And when I'm absolutely done? Break down, make myself some hot green tea, drink it and think about nothing. Sometimes less is enough.

We will not let the hurry bug win! Next up we'll get to the social validation part. Till then, take care. You're doing great :)

<3 ,

Rashmi