D017: Clear thinking
“Clear thinking requires courage rather than intelligence” Thomas Szasz
I think both are as important, but courage come first.
D016: The little voice in my head
There is a little voice within my skull that points out the worst of every situation I encounter.
Someone told me once, this is like a nasty friend who is constantly giving me unwise advising—yet, he is me, and I am him. Although I rejected this idea at first, I had to embrace it later as it proved to be accurate.
D015: Old wall clock
As I'm finishing my morning back coffee, everything is quiet.
I enjoy silence, it is a frugal luxury.
Every couple of minutes, I can hear cars passing by. Dropping the kids to school or heading to work (or both). I do not know.
In-between the cars rumbling on the street. Quietness, even the fridge is silent.
Only the old Philips clock on the walk ... tick .. tock ... tick ... tock.
D014: Pink blooming bush
The feeling of home
I wonder what constitutes the feeling of home. Is it the physical space, the people inhabiting such space, or my own state of mind?
Maybe it is all the above.
A cosy place feels homey, but, is that enough?
People come and go.
Perhaps a peaceful mind feels at home under any circumstance, no matter how challenging it might be.
Flowers
Maybe you thought I would forget to give you flowers today.
But time-space has collapsed, and now you're hundreds of miles away.
Me typing means I relapsed, but I'll put it out anyway.
I'll take a long walk, try to find some pink flowers to stare at.
When I'm back, I'll prepare a nice dinner, open a bottle of red wine, and drink twice.
D013: More on breathing
There is nothing more intimate, which connect us with life, than our breathing.
When we are connected with our breath, we feel grounded under any circumstance.
If we are continuously present through our breathing, handling any situation we face becomes easier—even when handling means painfully leaving everything behind.
D012: Two important skills
- How to breathe properly.
- Follow a schedule.
If we are alive, our breathing is good enough. However, there is a huge difference between being good enough and mastering something.
Breathing mindfully is something is not as easy as it sounds. But it is a useful skill.
Learning how to follow our breath improves our physical and mental health. As soon as you start taking this practice seriously, you quickly realize you can spend your whole life mastering it.
If you manage to go back to your breathe over and over. Eventually, dealing with difficult life situations is easier. Your mind stops dwelling too much in the past or in the future.
Counterintuitively, following rituals and a strict schedule every day is astonishingly liberating. It helps to deal with overwhelm and anxiety, but requires discipline.
Maybe the most important part of our daily schedule is the wake-up and sleeping times, and what we do the first and last hour of every day.
If you combine these two skills—breathe properly and follow a daily schedule—your life changes completely.
D011: Sunny day again
I was sipping my coffee besides the window at my workplace. After many cloudy and rainy days, this morning is sunny again.
The sun slowly evaporates the small puddles on the asphalt. For some reason, witnessing that had a soothing effect on me.
D010: Old man's advice
A friend once told me: “You should respectfully listen to your father's advice, then go out and live your life however you want”, or something along those lines. That happened 10 years ago.
At the time, I disagreed with many most of my father's world-views. It was is difficult to listen to him. And yet, I do it, with great respect.
But also, I always take my own decisions. I have done what I pleased with my life. I've made mistakes, but have no huge regrets.
Something I appreciate about my father is that he always respected my decisions and supported me as much as he could, even when he didn't fully agree with me. No matter how complicated our relationship is, it is based in mutual respect and love.
Ten years later, my father's and friend's words make more sense. They were right in many things they said, I see it now. I had to make my own mistakes, to feel the pain, to learn the hard way. Why? Because I'm stubborn.
Still, I have no regrets, only gratitude for the people in my life and their generosity with words.