New year resolutions…Resolutions are hard to keep, I have
never been able to keep them, so at the beginning of this year, I decided to
keep a vague new year resolution, vague as in a statement, a phrase that will
run at the back of my mind, so my NY resolution for the year 2016 was 'loving
myself, no matter what'
Oh boy! Little did I know, that the year which was to follow
would be a difficult one.
And what does a difficult year teach us? Life lessons ;)
:D :P
Speaking of which, the first lesson I learned this year:-
1) Positivity Offset- It means that positive
experiences are actually more frequent than negative. There's scientific
evidence to show that the distribution of good and bad events in people's
lives, for the most part, favors the good.
So, just take notice of the positive events that are already
there, it might not be about changing anything, but just noticing and
appreciating things that are there. :D
2) Detours are not dead-ends- For a long time, I felt
my life was going nowhere, that I had lost direction and was unable to see the distant
future. Then as clichéd as it sounds, I realised that when you are lost, you really can
create a new path for yourself. Everybody is on a unique journey with nobody to
compare. So who decides, which paths are dead-ends?
“She initially started making YouTube videos to help her
with her depression. While she had been busy toiling away at her undergraduate
degree in Psychology & pondering a career in counselling, she decided to
try her hand at YouTube. Hits quickly started flowing in and her mood
lifted." Today she is the third highest -paid YouTube star of 2016, she is
none other than Lilly Singh (|| superwoman ||).
Inspirational isn't
it?
Ultimately, there are no dead-ends just detours and every
path is the right path, because it turned you into the person you are today
& who you needed to become :) it's not about the destination, in fact, it
is just about getting lost in the journey.
3) Acceptance, surrender, and letting go-
Surrendering removes blocks and the exhaustion that comes from trying too hard
and it helps you achieve goals more effortlessly. Though surrender is often
considered counter-intuitive to success- it's wrongly associated with weakness
and defeat- it can make you more powerful, intuitive, spiritually connected,
uninhibited and ecstatically in the flow.
4) Experiencing Resilience- The positive emotions
that we experience may seem fleeting and temporary, but they enable and build
resilience in the long run. Resilience is like a muscle and it can grow when
you experience positive emotions. Remember when you are going through a
particularly hard time, there is always something you can change about your
situation and if there is nothing you can do, then why worry? :D
5) When life gives you lemons, make orange juice and make
everyone wonder how you did it :p - To be honest, the real motivation to
grow develops from adversity, failure builds character and acts as a fire which
is ignited to convert pain into efforts. All that is great, but all motivation
ends once the goal is reached.So, let go of the outcome, forget 5-year plans - no
seriously, does life ever happen according to your plans? And have the courage
to be true to yourself and don't live the life others expect you to live,
express your feelings, stay in touch with your friends and lastly let yourself
be happy. (Always, because you deserve it ;))
REFERENCES
1) Fredrickson B. (2009) Ten positive emotions. Retrieved from :- https://www.coursera.org/learn/positive-psychology/lecture/JqaAf/ten-positive-emotions
2) Oppenheim M. (2016). Lilly Singh: How a 28 year old Canadian rapped and vlogged her way into the You Tuber's millionaire's club. Retrieved from :-https://www.google.co.in/amp/www.independent.co.uk/news/people/lilly-singh-youtube-highest-paid-richest-forbes-list-2016-a7458441.html%3Famp
3)Orloff J. (2014). The Ecstasy of Surrender. Retrieved from:-https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-ecstasy-surrender
