Life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.
It’s a thought that came to my mind this morning while I was about to mark a date in my diary to see my homeopath. I looked back to last year when I grappled with a particularly stubborn set of health conditions that had restricted my life in ways beyond what I could ever imagine. Having lived far too long waiting for things to change on the exterior for me, I had just realized I hadn’t really worked to effect those changes anyway.
Today, I look back to that day a year ago, when I took the very first step to initiating the necessary changes in my lifestyle. Practicing mindfulness and combining it with therapeutic yoga, has helped me to address not just the physical aspects of my well being but the mind as well. This, coupled with meditation, has been continuously helping me sustain myself in spite of the varying demands being placed on my time, energy and resources. Over the months, I’ve been able to see how my inner strength and energy levels have improved, while the stressors have nearly halved.
In the past, although I was keen to see things change, I’d been hesitant to go in for any major upheavals as I felt they’d be unsettling. Thinking about it only made it worse.
But once I started, I self-propelled myself into going further and further. Now, I can safely admit it was actually the small changes I’ve been doing on a daily basis that helped me reach a happier place -those ‘small’ things, I can tell you, were actually not so small, after all. Like:
- Starting the mornings with a positive thought.
- Practicing an hour of yoga and 10-minutes of meditation, six days a week.
- Sustaining the new ‘habits’ on a daily basis, (in other words, not skipping my exercises).
- Dumping all the mental baggage I’ve been carrying for years by constant practice and learning to let go of bad memories and negative thoughts/people from my life.
- Devoting some time to a hobby every day.
- Writing my heart out on a blog post or in my diary, even on days when I’m stuck for words.
- Planning my social and work commitments in alignment with my newly set-up fitness goals.
But, of course, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have bad days. The journey to self-improvement has never been easy. Thanks to difficult times I’ve been miserable and frustrated every now and then when I wanted to shut myself away from the world. Thankfully, over time, the changes began to show up. Patience, persistence and tenacity have certainly helped me pull through. The anxieties and the stresses have now gone for good. I am fitter and my limitations are no longer there as before. I still have a lot to work on as I have new goals to chase now.
But what really helped me was taking things one day at a time. I can say this with conviction today – Life cannot improve by chance. It can only improve with change. Waking up every morning and telling myself that I can do it, reinforces my will power and leaves me with a very empowering feeling. I know I still have a long way to go, but as a work in progress whenever I look into the mirror, I can see how I’m becoming a better version of myself, one step at a time, every day.
Are you on the road to self-improvement too? How does it feel to be on one? Do you have any tips to offer those trying to balance between living life and working on failings/limitations?
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Linking up with #MondayMusings, hosted by Corinne Rodrigues
Congratulations this is my favourite #mg post this week! Stop by tomorrow to grab your featured writer badge and thanks again for linking up with me xx
Thank you so much! I love being part of the #mg linky! Such lovely writers who contribute each week. And a big thanks for the mention! Sure made my day ❤️
I love that quote! Your post is so inspiring, I agree with what you say here. I had to make a lot of choices to find peace within myself too #mg
Thank you so much! Glad you think so. I can see through my own experiences how tough it can be to make peace with one’s struggles and battles. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger I guess.
What a thought provoking quote – I have actually jotted it down to use it later somewhere! Its set my mind abuzz too!
Love the fact that you had the strength to acknowledge there is something wrong; accepting it is the biggest challenege I feel we pose in our life.
All the more power to you for your journey to self empowerement and self love.
I need to take a leaf out of your book and meditate regularly too! i have been lazy! Cheers Esha
I’m so glad that quote spoke to you, Shalini. I draw so
Much strength from that alone. I think when we face tough times small things can make a big difference. And yes, meditation is a great healer…I have a theory that when the right time comes we somehow take time out for that. So despair not. The key is to find the right time to do it. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. 🙂
How fiercely we fight change, especially the kind that makes us look deep within ourselves and realize that we’re at the bottom of most of what’s ‘wrong’ with ourselves. Back to Stephen Covey and his ‘response-ability’ statement.
I’m so inspired by the changes you’ve made, Esha.
You said it, Corinne. Often the battle rages within our innermost selves. Our biggest and most valuable learning comes form our responses in dealing with this.
That’s so good, Esha. Things change when you start working towards it. I am happy for you. 🙂
Thank you so much, Shalini. Humbled and happy to hear that 🙂
It’s so true Esha…we must make the change happen and not just reflect on things or curse our destiny. Meditation has helped me a lot to find balance in life. I do practice yoga four times a week but can’t go beyond 25 minutes, except one hour at the class.
You’re right, Vishal. Its the doing that matters more isn’t it? $ days a week yoga isn’t bad at all…I think the key is to sustain it over a period of time and you are bound to draw immense health benefits from it. Keep at it as you are doing Vishal. And meditation is so therapeutic, I feel. I depend on it for my sanity. 🙂
Change is diificult to bear because it wants us to challenge ourselves more often while waiting for things to happen by chance or by God’s will is naive thinking. I am on a self-improvement dtive too and now it no longer seems like too much of effort since I am reaping the fruits of my dedicated hard work. I just hope not to get carried away talking about my things when we meet 🙂 Only a clue – now exercise has also got added to my list of passionate interests along with books.
Wow! You sound like exercise has become your latest passion. That’s fantastic. Isn’t that how it should be for us all ideally? I’m dying to hear your experinecs and take your advice because I’m desperate to shed the kilos I’m happily piling on even after cutting down on my meals. Can’t wait to hear how you did it. 😀
I really loved how you described yourself as a work in progress and I am going to try &a take that on board. Thank you 🌸 #MG
Thank you so much for visiting the blog and sharing your thoughts, Catie.
Good for you Esha! The first step towards betterment is accepting that there is a problem
Thank you Sunita. Yes, absolutely right. Awareness does pave the path to betterment!