I just got home from vacation in India: a month of festivals, family, weddings, travel and more.
I love visiting this beautiful, huge, diverse country where you see people from all walks of life – both social status and economic levels.
There is a lot of competition in India, whether it is studies or work, for everyone wants to be the best so that they can secure for themselves and their family a comfortable future. There is no welfare safety net, so your future is entirely dependent on you.
But the common mindset I see among people in India is this attitude of living in the present. Every moment is appreciated. They share an attitude of not knowing what will happen tomorrow, so live in the present today, and embrace both joy and sorrow at the same time.
Holds on to different emotions.
Yes, Indians have the ability to hold on to different emotions at the same time, and that’s what I want to pass on to you. You are able to hold on to joy and sorrow, love and anger and pressure and calm – all at the same time.
This balance of emotions is what makes you whole, and acceptance of this duality allows you to live in this present moment. It allows you to accept every moment as it comes and goes. Because then you know that this moment also passes. Enjoy the moment while you have it.
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not come yet. We only have today. Let’s start,” Mother Teresa once said. But how do you do that?
What not to do
Let me first tell you what not to do and what most of us end up doing anyway. When something happens to you and you feel sadness, you think, sometimes unknowingly, that you should stay in that sadness. You may even feel guilty if you feel joy or laugh out loud when you are ‘supposed’ to be upset.
Another scenario could be that you are angry and arguing with someone, but in the middle of the argument you feel love for that person or say something funny that makes you laugh. But you stop yourself because you want to be angry at that person.
Do you recognize these situations? For you are meant to hold different emotions at the same time, and that does not mean that your sadness or anger will diminish because you laugh out loud or feel joy at the same time.
It just means you are all you, your balanced you. You allow yourself to keep yourself and the situation and all that it requires. You really are who you are with all the different sides of you.
To love life: step by step
Identify your feelings. The moment you feel angry, upset, frustrated or something else, just take a moment and identify your feelings. Ask yourself: how do you really feel? What are you angry about? Go through all your emotions. When we break things down, they often become smaller than we make them or disappear altogether because we realize that they do not mean as much as we thought.
Allow yourself to have this feeling. Breathe through it, accept it. By doing so, you allow yourself to be who you are: who you really are.
Take a deep breath and notice what else you are feeling at the moment. Do you also feel good, grateful, happy, loving? By practicing this, you will slowly be able to hold all your emotions together at the same time. And instead of feeling disconnected, you will begin to feel more and more connected to your whole being and become more aware of the now.
Ask yourself what is really important to you in this moment. Tomorrow is not known; all you have is this moment. So enjoy it with all that you are and all that you have and before you know it you will love every moment no matter what life brings you.
Source: The Nordic Page