Thursday, November 7, 2024

The Silent Treatment

I used to hate Mondays. Of all the days of the week, I think Mondays are the most reviled, probably for no reason other than that they feel like a brutal wake-up call after a relaxing weekend.

We usually associate feeling good and being relaxed with the weekend when the truth is, we could feel like that every day. Most of us have programmed ourselves to automatically let go of struggle and negative feelings by Friday afternoons, in anticipation of the wonderful moments just around the corner. The mere thought of soon finding ourselves in our favourite environments, or surrounded by fun people, is enough to lift our spirits.

Personally, I used to relish Fridays. Weekends were my time to relax and cultivate inner peace. But by the time Sunday nights rolled around, I was already imagining how that peace would be shattered; and I dreaded the week ahead.

Yet the idea that we have to wait until Friday night to feel good is completely irrational. What’s more, if you think about it, if we wait for weekends to experience positivity, that would mean we spent around 70 percent of our time feeling bad. Personally, I think that’s no way to live.
Our entire lives are supposed to be amazing. Life is supposed to be one thrilling moment after another, every day, regardless of the name of the day.

Yet for most of us, when good things happen to us, we consider ourselves ‘lucky.’ We think incidents of good fortune are few and far between; and mostly beyond our control. We attribute them to some ethereal, omnipotent force at work in our lives, when nothing could be further from the truth.

We control the good that flows into our lives through our thoughts; and by focusing our attention on the positive. Yet it can be difficult to sustain positive thinking, particularly if our current reality feels almost entirely negative.

One of the best ways to train ourselves to focus our attention on the positive is by sitting in silence; and meditating.

Meditation helps us to focus and sustain our attention. There’re many different kinds, such as Transcendental Meditation or Zen meditation, or practicing mindfulness or loving kindness, amongst others, but all meditation involves the cultivation of attention.

With meditation, there are several crucial things to aim for. The first is, letting go of feelings of resistance and struggle; and detaching from things we are desperate to attain. Paradoxically, when we do this, we actually hasten the arrival of the very things we want into our lives.
During meditation, we also let go of the need to analyse and judge every little thing. Use this time as a way to free yourself from negative obsessions, such as who your ex might be dating; and whether they seem better off without you.

Cultivate a feeling of calm; and trust that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be in life; and that things are unfolding perfectly for you, according to divine timing.

Make meditation your daily way of being. Do it in the morning and you’ll find that for the rest of the day, you are more centred; and better able to direct your thoughts to the positive even in the midst of negative occurrences.

If you meditate daily, you’ll experience immense benefits. Scientific research shows that regular meditation produces greater happiness and less anxiety and depression.

Meditation also affects our intelligence – studies reveal that university students who practiced meditation showed bigger improvements on an intelligence test, as well as in their grades.
What’s more, when we meditate, we develop a stronger immune system. Meditation can help people who are ill and has been shown to be effective in patients with heart disease, chronic pain, skin disorders, depression and substance abuse. It reduces their reactivity to stress and boosts positive mood, self-esteem and feelings of control.

As stated, meditation can entail different methods, but for fifteen to twenty minutes every day, try sitting in complete silence and emptying your mind of all thought. Or, simply focus your attention on your breath or a mantra – anything that doesn’t bring up feelings of resistance. You can start with a few minutes each day and work your way up.

Even as you do this, thoughts will continue to pop back into your mind, for example, your list of things to do. Simply observe them without judgement and let them go. Do this consistently.
Once meditation becomes a habit for you, look out for ‘inexplicable’ good things flowing to you. Life will start to unfold in the most delicious, synchronistic way, where you receive precisely the information you need at the right time; and people who can help you show up in your life without you having to look for them. No matter how many times this happens to me, I simply can’t get used to it – it’s the most thrilling feeling in the world!

With meditation, you’ll also achieve a lasting sense of well-being. You’ll discover that your negativity has nothing to do with what day of the week it is, or your work environment, or even other people’s behavior, but everything to do with your perception of certain situations as negative.

You have the power to feel good regardless of what’s going on around you – it’s simply a matter of consistently focusing your attention in a positive way.

Even if you’ve regarded meditation as something completely foreign to you until now, today, vow to adopt a meditation practice in your life. Regard it as your sacred time and protect it from all intrusions.

As Blaise Pascal noted, “all of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Give yourself the silent treatment and watch your life change for the better.
‘How to Create Positive Peace’ will be coming out in book format soon. Please view my 3-minute video and vote for me to become the Next Top Self-Help Author at: www.NextTopAuthor.com/?aid=88
Thank you!

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