It’s not always easy to feel empowered and motivated but, fortunately, it’s something we can learn to do with a little self-analysis and daily practice. When you know yourself inside and out, you’ll gain confidence and have a new sense of clarity. Take the time to discover what you like and what you don’t like. What makes you happy, what energises you. Be kind to yourself and show yourself some compassion.
We teamed up with Tom Fortes Mayer, Meditation Teacher at FreeMind to help you find more peace, power and purpose for a happier life.
Gratitude practices
It’s a wonderful feeling when a wave of gratitude moves through us – we feel pleased to be alive and modern life seems worthwhile. It’s delightful when that arises naturally and yet we don’t have to wait for it to occur randomly. It makes more sense to actively cultivate the mindset of gratitude. It reduces stress and increases a sense of peace. Gratitude is the feeling of having enough, being enough and life being in essence good. To increase the gratitude you have in your life, take time to think about the people in your life that are a blessing. Select three people and send them a loving message today to tell them that you are grateful they are in your life.
Random acts of kindness
It’s a lovely thing to make the conscious decision to randomly do something nice for someone you love. However, it is even more amazing to do something for someone you don’t know. The degree to which we are able to unconditionally love other people is a direct reflection of how unconditionally loving we can be of ourselves. That is why it is so powerful to do something lovely for people you don’t know. This can be as simple as offering to carry someone’s bag, or helping someone to cross the road – although a favourite, is leaving anonymous notes of kindness in public places for people to find. Look for opportunities today to go above and beyond and your chances of having a happier day will have dramatically improved.
Making amends
As we grow and develop we often come to understand that we have made some mistakes in the past. The great philosopher Kierkegaard said, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards”. This, however, is not about living with regret and shame. This is about realising that in those times when we may have acted out of integrity, or when due to our confusion, ignorance or fear we may have either incidentally or purposefully hurt or upset others, it is hugely valuable, where appropriate, to make amends. This can be as simple as an apology or it may involve even making reparations or offering to do something to make up for your transgression. Often the apology is enough, offering possible explanations for your choices but never excuses. This process of “cleaning up’ can be incredibly healing and liberating for you and the other person. It has been said that ideally, we want to live in such a way, that if anyone we have ever interacted with, should walk into a room we are in, we could look them in the eye and be at peace. Forgive yourself, forgive others, make amends and put it and your soul to rest.
Clearing clutter
Our living environment hugely affects our internal emotional state. Living in a clear, calm, ordered and tidy home can really help you feel peaceful, positive and happy. It is possible to choose to consciously tidy, organise and de-clutter as a ritual for greater peace and happiness. You could choose to totally clear your whole house or you might instead want to focus on reorganising your fridge. Big or small, you can look at your outer life as a reflection of your inner world. Even the tidiest of people, often have one miscellaneous drawer in their kitchen or their office that could be reorganised. People also often simply have much more than they need. Giving away what you don’t really need, clearing your home, organising your storage can all go towards making you feel so much calmer and happy. Picture your house (and your car if you have one) as your mind and lovingly restore it to harmony. Start today with something simple.
Meditation
The greatest thing we can do to improve our life is to take some time every day, to come into stillness and allow life to be as it is. Meditation doesn’t have to be strict or formal, nor is it about clearing the mind of thought. Meditation is simply about being at peace with what is, and whilst that commonly involves being still, that doesn’t have to be the case. You can get into a meditation whilst dancing, gardening, walking or even whilst on the tube at rush hour. It is simply a matter of becoming fully present to the moment and dropping all resistance, judgment and frustration.
By consciously returning to a state of peace, you are able to be more resilient, creative, composed and in touch with who you really are and what you really want. This enables you to make much healthier and happier choices throughout the day, which makes it much more likely that over time you will have a much happier and healthier life.
A simple meditation that you can try today is to simply choose to eat with full conscious awareness. Simply taking the time to eat really slowly so that you can notice the texture and taste of everything.
Happiness is available in every moment. We just have to pay attention.
