Keep on strengthening your mind every day
Nowadays it’s so important keep constantly learning how to live throughout our life. Developing our inner selves is a lifelong process that we must always work at. Determining ways to improve our selves and finding happiness were among the aims of Seneca for humanity. We always put off self-improvement practices because we believe we don’t have enough time. We often find the thought of meditating more stressful than usual when we are busy.
However, these are not worthy excuses. We should treat working on our inner self is a full time job, not something we should ignore in favor of other tasks. One of the first steps to improving ourselves is recognizing our own flaws. None of us are perfect, and identifying which areas of ourselves we need to work on is crucial. Sometimes, as people go through their journeys in life, their perspectives and beliefs change. This particularly happens when someone proves that his previous beliefs were based on erroneous or false pretences.
From then we can improve and move on. As long as we live, we are learning — either unconsciously, or consciously. Your mind is the most important and the most enduring tool that you have, hence you always can and should make the time for your mental health. No matter what phase you are in life, you can start learn a new skill, take a new class, meditate or read improvement books. These books are written by experts that provide an array of selections to express and share their knowledge and know-how. Exploring these highly recommended materials can enrich your own need to learn and grow. Exercise your mind every day by doing things that stretch and empower you.
Be Your Own Healer
Two elements must be rooted out once for all – the fear of future suffering, and the recollection of past suffering; since the latter no longer concerns me, and the former concerns me not yet”. The two biggest causes of suffering include fearing the future and regretting the past. Our future is uncertain, nor is it in our control and fearing too much about our future will only bring us dread, anxiety and suffering. The truth is whatever happens you will have the strength to survive, and even become stronger. So the next time something horrible happens to yourself, tell yourself: “Perhaps this sorrow might one day bring delight.” We regret the past because we want to avoid those mistakes in the future. Instead, we should just reflect on the past, learn our lessons, and move on. The problem is too many of us have something like a virus in our brain. Imagine the space we hold all of our baggage in as a glass and you will realize that most of us have a crack in that glass. These cracks come from sad life experiences or abusive relationships and dysfunctional relationships that have caused us some kind of trauma or pain. And since none of us enter into our adulthood in the most ideal way, we all have some sort of a crack. These cracks act like viruses that keep replaying these horrible memories from our past in our minds. We need to repair these cracks or else we cannot move forward in our lives. The good news is that this mental virus could be cured by seeing a therapist, studying philosophy, or by reading books. If we avoid regretting our past, and don’t not fear the future we will become indestructible.
Satisfy your needs
True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future. The undisclosed reality of physical and mental well-being is simply to live in the present time prudently and with enthusiasm. But how often do we rush to finish something so that we can then rush to work on the next thing on our list? How often do we spend an evening worrying about tomorrow, instead of relaxing? How often have you caught yourself in the middle of a perfectly wonderful moment thinking about what you’re going to do next?
I’ll share with you one conversation between a Zen master and his student in which the student once asks a wise zen master how to achieve Zen. The master replied, “eat when you’re hungry, and sleep when you’re tired.” The student, completely confused, responded, “isn’t that what people do already?” The zen master replied, “no, people don’t just eat, but think of 10,000 things, and people don’t just sleep, but dream innumerable dreams.
So we do – We let our mind wander off to the next big thing or the memories we hold onto from years ago while missing out on all of the things happening around you right now. The next thing you know, you’re living that moment you were thinking about so longingly yesterday, but your mind has moved on to tomorrow or is stuck in a moment from two weeks ago. So challenge yourself to start living in the present, starting now. When You’re Hungry Eat! When You’re Tired Sleep!
Be your own spectator and seek your own applause
As humans we seek the approval of others. We live in a society that has a “somebody or nobody” mentality that makes it so that many people have an inferiority complex. The problem is that the more we desire the approval of others, the more we become a slave to them. No matter how hard we try we can never please 100% of others. Instead we need to seek to please ourselves. We need to live a life according to our own personal code of ethics and morals. We need to act as if you were part of nature. There are no rich or poor trees in nature, but just balance. By all means, set big goals, have role models, and strive to achieve greatness. But remember if you spend just one minute thinking about what others think about you, you’ll end up feeling like the poorest man on Earth. Foster the kind of self-love and respect that makes it possible for you to be comfortable in your own company – to be your greatest self, and to be happy with who you are. You can do this by looking at yourself in the mirror. Are you pleased with the person you’re looking at? If so, keep moving forward, if not, see what you can change in your life to become the person you strive to be.
Learn by the art of contentment
It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.
I know few super rich people, yet, the live mostly modestly in terms of material life. They keep their wealth and investing in other things and people, yet they imagine everyday like it could disappear. Such a life attitude allow them to have freedom to philosophize on life, yet prevent them from becoming a slave to his wealth.The fact that you are reading this article in I suppose a decent place to live, basic clothes, an internet connection, a smartphone, a laptop, and food is easily attainable. However, you still want more, don’t you?
The biggest disease we have in today’s society is the desire of luxury. We believe if we have more, and that we can have more time, the things will be better. Doing things we love will be easier. Raising our kids will be simpler. Spending time with our loved ones will become effortless. While that sounds practical, in truth, that isn’t how the world works. In reality, it’s the other way around – most super rich people have miserable families, full of anxiety and stress, and every facet of their life has become more complex than ever. There comes a point when material success becomes a hindrance rather than an advantage because earning a lot of money takes a lot of time, a lot of energy, and a lot of mental and emotional space. The moment we want something else, we suddenly lose appreciation for what we already have.
The power of giving
You must live for your someone’s else if you would live for yourself. Remember, Ghandi, Mandela or Mother Theresa? None of them ever said “I wish I could have spent more of my time living for myself.” The purpose of their life was to empower others. We too can help out our friends, people in our community, and especially those who are weaker and less fortunate then yourself. Many individuals out there are sad, miserable, and lost and they need your love. When you perform good deeds for people, then you shouldn’t be asking for payment even in the form of gratitude. The act of giving back is an indirect way of giving to ourselves. We become the true recipients of living for others, and it’s a win-win for everyone.
Regardless of your situation in life, you can always help others. You can help others by giving them advice, by giving them a listening ear, or giving them a hug, or words of encouragement. You can donate items that you don’t use anymore, whether it’s clothes or household appliances. You can also donate your time and effort by volunteering at places all over your city. Often the way we can help others the most isn’t through our money or resources, but with our heart.
Confront bravely the struggles of life
It is very important to understand that the way how we perceive our suffering is far more important than the suffering itself. Believe it or not, it rains on everyone. Notably to wealthy and rich people. It’s what you do about it that matters most. In our personal lives, and on a global scale, we face challenges like injury, illness, unemployment, grief, divorce, death or even a new venture with an unknown future. The truth is majority of us let these problems defeat us through our feelings of anger, fear and anxiety. These negative approach makes us too paralysed to move forward and take a step in resolving the problem. On the one hand you can see a setback as a failure. On the other, you can take it as a lesson and use it as fuel towards greater effort in the future. You can see a long line as an inconvenience. Or you can see it as an opportunity to practice patience. You can see a rejection as a permanent mark of your inability. Or you can see it is a stepping stone in your journey to greatness.
When you have the right attitude, nothing can stop you. When you have the wrong attitude, almost anything can.
Find an anchor and be an anchor
It means you should seek to associate with people who are likely to improve you. Welcome those whom you are capable of improving. Choose a role model to provide a standard to live by. There is something powerful in having such an anchor because it can open your eyes to what’s possible. The person you wish to model can provide you with principles that can help you navigate even the most difficult and treacherous circumstances as well as standards against which you can judge your behavior on a day-to-day basis. Likewise, when you find people who are genuinely eager to grow, and you can help them, help them. Be an anchor for them. At any phase of your career, you will always find someone asking for your wisdom. You will always have someone to inspire. It could be your own kid, your junior at work, your friend, or someone who wants to get connected to you for your experience. This will develop your leadership skills as well as help others learn, grow, and improve their skills. It will be personally fulfilling experience for you that you’ve directly contributed to someone’s growth and development. Seeing your friend or a child succeed as a result of your input is a reward in itself.
Don’t just exist! Live your life
So you must not think a man has lived long because he has white hair and wrinkles – he has not lived long, just existed long. I believe human life is long for those who did not squander their time. Most of the time, we are not actually living life but simply existing — allowing life to happen to us rather than taking the reins to live the lives we want to live. We only live long, not fully because our lives are filled with business and stress. We often get obsessed and addicted throughout our lives with things that bring us short-term pleasures. We get greedy for power, fame, money, prestige and status. Hence, we’d better examine these problems that result in life seeming to pass by too quickly. I essentially prompt you to question your life and ask: What proof do I have that I’m really alive?
Many of us are living what might as well be considered a life of mere existence: lazing around and wasting our potential. The truth is life is moving through its course, whether you like it or not. Your time is valuable, and it’s the only thing that you cannot ever get back. But life can be long if you use your time deliberately and carefully. Life can be fulfilling if you invest your time in actual living, which is by studying philosophy, being in control of yourself, working towards goals that are important to you and not putting off the enjoyment of life for the future.
Create your own life philosophy
When a mind is impressionable and has none too firm a hold on what is right, it must be rescued from the crowd; it is so easy for it to go over to the majority” Every day you spend too much time on social media or being around people that tell you how you should think, what you should believe, how you should act, and what you should do with your precious time. It’s up to you to protect yourself from this influence — the influence of the masses. Just because most people do something doesn’t mean it’s worth imitating. Many people spend too much money in buying luxuries they don’t need. Most people aren’t grateful for what they have. Most of them spend a lot of time in life’s trivialities and get nothing done.
If you wish to have same results as everyone else, then by all means, be a follower. On the other side, you can choose to be a life student, and decide yourself what to believe, and create a path that is yours alone.
I firmly believe that if we are to live meaningful life, we must be constant students of the greatest subject of all. Life itself.
