Tag: #helpful tips

Finding Joy & Peace

by Ana-Alicia

Whatever can spark joy and happiness in your life, however small it is, look for ways to implement them into your daily life. I think it is important to find joy and peace in life however way you possibly can.

As I mention in other posts, work has been a struggle lately. I am exhausted, tired and overwhelmed from work. I don’t always look forward to going, or look forward to the work day weeks. I also don’t want these feelings about work to spill into my everyday life, the times I am away from work. I don’t want negative thoughts and feelings to pervade my life, so I try to find ways to bring some enjoyment to my life.

One thing I enjoy is drinking a cup of Dunkin coffee before work. Coffee gives me energy. It also puts me in a better mood. This helps get me through the work day, and actually makes me look forward to Mondays and Fridays(those are the days I get coffee). It is a nice little treat before work. Any little thing that can bring happiness is all that matters.

I also have been into buying plants. I truly enjoy having them around my room. Just looking at them, brings me joy. I usually go to a plant nursery on Saturdays to pick new ones out. I really enjoy just looking around seeing all the pretty plants around me, and picking the ones that I like. I truly enjoy being surrounded by plants at home. Coming home after an exhausting day to my lovely plants is something that brings life back to me.

One thing that helps keep me at peace is doing meditation before going to work. I try to do a session to calm my mind and body, before I head into the craziness of work. It definitely helps calm me down more. It helps me handle the stressors of work much better. I still get stressed, but not as stressed if I didn’t meditate. It also puts me in a more positive, happier mood going into work. As I mention in my last post, I also try to take deep breaths whenever I feel overwhelmed as well. This also helps.

Some things in life can be stressful and difficult, but not everything in life is that way. There will be times of joy and peace that you can embrace and enjoy when it arrives. It is all about making the time to do so. Be in the moment. We allow our minds to be preoccupied with the bad parts of our lives. We forget to take time to enjoy the good moments.

I work majority of the time. We spend most of our time at work. I get how being at a job you don’t enjoy can be a bummer, but we can’t allow our feelings towards work, or any difficult part in our lives pervade our mind into a negative place. Now I actually don’t dislike my job. It just gets overwhelming. All jobs have stressful parts to it. If you don’t enjoy your work, than it may be time to get out of your comfort zone, and look else where, because as I mentioned, your job makes up most of your life. It can be hard to enjoy life, if you don’t enjoy what you do.

We should try to strive to find joy and peace in life when we can. It is important for our mental health and well-being. It can be something little, something big, or in between. Just find something that can lift you up, and help keep you in the moment. To appreciate and embrace the joys and peaceful moments in life.

Years go by fast, months go by fast, weeks go by fast, and so do days. We are already near the new year. We try to rush by the days(I do this as well), but maybe we can use everyday to find some joy and peace in it. Maybe we can learn from the difficulties of that day as well. We should learn to embrace each day, and take the moments of that day in as much as we can, because sooner, rather than later, the years will have passed by and you truly haven’t lived, or enjoyed life as much as you wanted. Be mindful of the moments in life. Enjoy, find peace, and live as fully as you can.

The Art of Letting Go

by Ana-Alicia

It is called an art, because it takes a certain skill to be able to do this. Letting go is not easy for us humans to do. We love to attach to things. For us to find inner peace and have a healthy mindset it is important to let go. In the Buddhist practice, they state attachment creates suffering. Attachment allows us to hold on to things longer then we should.

We hold on to good, or bad memories, past relationships, people, expectations, things, past experiences, ideas and many other things. It is hard to move on, especially if we focus on only the good parts of these stories, and cling on to them. It is perfectly fine and healthy to look back on the past to learn, to see how far we come, to look back on the experiences we had, and the people in our lives. It start to affect us negatively when we yearn to go back, and want things how it was.

We like comfort. What we know brings us comfort. Good times brings us comfort. It can be hard to let go when things in your life at the moment aren’t the greatest. These times, it can be easy to want things they way they were. We must remember that inner peace comes from being in the moment. The past is gone, and the future hasn’t arrived yet. Both are illusions. We must learn to create joy in the present, so we don’t have to look to the past or future. If you can’t find joy, acceptance is powerful. Accept what is, and see what you can learn from being in the moment. Tough times can always spark up creativity and inspiration. It may suck now, but you can always work on making things better, rather than wallowing in self despair, which serves you no purpose.

We must remember that life is always changing. We are always evolving. Nothing stays the same. When we learn to accept this reality. We learn to live life more peacefully. If you continue to cling on to the past, people, things, etc,…It can create misery and suffering. Just think about how continuously looking to the past has served you?

Resisting changes leads to suffering. Wanting things to be comfortable all the time leads to suffering. Wanting to experience only good things leads to suffering. Let go of the idea that life should be a certain way. Let go of the control you think you have over others and life situations. Life is the way it is, always changing, with its struggles, and with its bad moments. Life is hard. Life is not perfect. Once you come to this realization. You will find peace and freedom, and the ability to let go with much more ease. I won’t say letting go will ever be easy, but your ability to handle letting go can get better with this realization, awareness and mindful practice.