Happy Sunday!
And welcome to today's edition of 'Conscious living with Purnima'. Today's post involves putting pen to paper & doing an exercise in self-awareness. You can do it after you have read the post in full. Do attempt it as it's action & action alone that brings results.
Taking on the role of a conscious creator
On pruning your life and doing it often
Our life is a mixed bag of the good stuff - a positive expansive mindset, habits that support our long-term wellbeing, a nourishing environment conclusive for growth and the bad stuff - a negative limiting mindset, habits that don’t serve, & an energy draining environment.
Today, I invite you to start paying attention to these 3 - your mindset, your habits & your environment.
If you are feeling stuck or restricted in some area of your life, then see if you can trace it to a mindset issue - what is it that you are telling or not telling yourself that's causing you to feel stuck or inhibited? Is there something that needs reframing?
I loved doing this exercise as the act of writing down an empowering belief as a replacement for a limiting one brought about a fresh ray of positivity & power within me.
Next pay attention to your habits. What's not serving you? Could be excessive usage of gadgets or not prioritising healthy habits like regular exercise or sleep, or improper utilisation of time. Be honest and put them all down. Even though nothing may change overnight, the very act of drawing awareness to what needs pruning will kick-start the process of change for you.
Lastly, look at your environment - all the books you are reading, courses you have signed up for, apps you are using, people you invest your time in, objects of supposed utility that you have surrounded yourself with.
How many of these are necessary? Sometimes you need to make the hard decision of dropping things that have outlived their usefulness or are simply not serving you. Find the courage to do it. Letting go of what doesn't serve allows fresh energy to enter your life. Last couple of days I have been doing a lot of decluttering and it's made me feel really good.
Paying attention and taking action is how we get into the role of being a conscious creator. I enjoyed doing this exercise and hence have brought it to you. I hope you will give it a shot.
Leaving you with a poem for reflection. Let me know in comments if it resonated with you.
I counted my years and realized that I have less time to live by, than I have lived so far. I have more past than future. I feel like that boy who got a bowl of cherries. At first, he gobbled them, but when he realized there were only few left, he began to taste them intensely.
I no longer have time to deal with mediocrity. I do not want to be in meetings where flamed egos parade. I am bothered by the envious, who seek to discredit the most able, to usurp their places, coveting their seats, talent, achievements and luck.
I do not have time for endless conversations, useless to discuss about the lives of others who are not part of mine.
I no longer have the time to manage sensitivities of people who despite their chronological age, are immature.
I hate to confront those that struggle for power, those that ‘do not debate content, just the labels’. My time has become scarce to debate labels, I want the essence.
My soul is in a hurry. Not many cherries in my bowl, I want to live close to human people, very human, who laugh of their own stumbles, and away from those turned smug and overconfident with their triumphs, away from those filled with self-importance.
The essential is what makes life worthwhile. And for me, the essentials are enough!
Yes, I’m in a hurry.
I’m in a hurry to live with the intensity that only maturity can give. I do not intend to waste any of the remaining cherries.
I am sure they will be exquisite, much more than those eaten so far.
My goal is to reach the end satisfied and at peace with my loved ones and my conscience.
And per Confucius “We have two lives and the second begins when you realize you only have one.”
Poem by Mário de Andrade called “The Valuable Time of Maturity”
Well articulated one. I loved the poem, and especially the cherries example.