For wellness this week, I’m continuing with meditation to control my thoughts and keep it in the present and positive. Basically, I’m practicing mindfulness. This is for the The Science of Well-being course I’ve been taking for the past couple months.
Last week was difficult. I was faced with issues in my environment that made me not want to be in the present. And to just escape to wherever my mind wanted to wander off to. I had to learn to overcome that.
This week was more challenging physically. As I paid attention to the thoughts in my mind as a result of that, I found myself saying to myself – “I’m tired, I’m not feeling well”. Which is true, that is how I’m feeling physically. But the problem I’ve had in the past is I would let those thoughts continue. I let that negative self talk replay in my mind and eventually just feel worse.
What I’ve been trying to do now is, first, receive that information.
To see it as important and an accurate assessment my body is giving me. I’m grateful for this information. I mean, imagine if our bodies did not tell us when we’re tired or unwell. We’d probably just keep going beyond what is safe.
After receiving, it’s important to respond correctly to that information.
To see it more as a prompt for action. So if it’s “I’m tired”, then what needs to be done? Take a rest? Slow down? Do less? If “I’m feeling sad” – maybe watch a comedy. If “I’m stressed” – maybe take a walk outside or listen to music. If “I’m feeling discouraged” – maybe reach out to a friend. If “I’m feeling discontent” – maybe prayer and gratitude.
So here’s the process I practiced this week:
- acknowledge; receive the information my body has communicated to my mind.
- pray; because my knowledge is limited and there could be many causes for what’s going on with varying solutions.
- gratitude (I guess this could be seen as praise); because there’s always something to be thankful for in any situation. And gratitude helps me to get out of that negative space.
- Then action; what can be done to remedy the situation?
Here’s how that went.
I felt tired and irritable. My body was aching, particularly my left arm for some reason. All noise was jarring to my ears, and my eyes were sore and sensitive.
If I were to self-diagnose, I would say it’s all because of life at home with younger kids. And the solution is to do what I’ve done before – take some quiet time to myself in my bedroom to recharge. In fact, I tried that before praying. After praying, I had no certain answer for the problem but I had peace and more energy.
I thanked God for the wonderful opportunity to have my kids home at this stage in their lives. I remembered all the blessings, the fun times, the learning together, etc. I reflected on life before this change with its busyness and stress.
Then, I went downstairs and started dinner. My daughter soon joined me to watch and help where she could. We put some music on and had a singing dance party. I soon forgot my fatigue and irritability.
Living in a place of gratitude, where we’re more focused on the positives, helps us to overcome the trials and keep moving forward.
