32 Things I’ve Learned – Part 1 of 4

It was 32 days ago that I wrote my last blog post. And not a single day went by that I didn’t think about updating my blog. Let’s just say I struggled terribly in practicing my last “Mindful Monday” resolution: Be Kind To Yourself. In my pursuit of mindful living, compassion and maintaining a kind heart, I realized I wasn’t paying attention to myself and my emotions.

So I took the past 32 days to let life get in the way and develop “inner strength” that Kate’s post on Mindful Living: Inner Strength motivated me to develop.

Each of the past 32 days has taught me something about myself. I’ll be posting these 32 learnings over the next 4 posts. Here are the first eight:

1. I’ve learned to laugh my heart out. I’m sure you’ve heard that laughter is the best medicine but have you really felt your laughter, felt the muscles on your face relax, felt your eyes tear up and felt the contagious effect of your laugh? It’s truly a special feeling.
2. I’ve learned to liberate from “stuff”. We gave 15 banker’s boxes worth of housewares to a youth shelter. You don’t need a lot to live a comfortable life. Just because you have space doesn’t mean you have to fill it up. And just because you don’t have space it doesn’t mean you have to find something bigger.
3. I’ve learned to listen and be mindful to my body. After ignoring my aching back for three months, I showed some compassion to it by getting me a massage and felt every rub as it relieved the tension.
4. I’ve learned that ageing is inevitable. Thanks to our parents we learn this sooner than we would have liked to. You can’t help feeling bummed but I’ve learned to use it to motivate to make life more meaningful by living it for others.
5. I’ve learned the magic of eight-hour days. For most of us Labour Day is a long weekend. But it is the labour union movement that made sure we aren’t getting exploited by capitalism; it is this movement that advocated the importance of eight-hour days – eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation and eight hours for rest. After all  we work to live, don’t we?
6. I’ve learned that there is no intrinsically “bad” person. It is our delusional mind that exaggerates an action by over-thinking and causes us to feel anger or hatred towards this person.
7. I’ve also learned to weaken my anger towards a person by developing love and patience towards them. Maybe they have a reason for engaging in actions that anger us? Why is their desire for happiness less important than our desire to have a peaceful mind? I still struggle here but acknowledging this is a battle half won.
8. I learned that I was lactose-intolerant. And then a vegan friend’s comment that humans are the only animals that drink another animal’s milk kept ringing in my head. I’m not vegan yet but I think it’s just a matter of time. I love cheese too much to give it up.

Thanks to those who checked in with me to see if I was doing okay. I am truly touched by your concern. And I am so blessed to have a circle of virtual friends that look forward to reading my posts just as I wait to hear from their experiences.

Lest we forget, it’s the small things that make a big difference :)!