Let me start off by wishing you a very very happy Diwali! I hope that this festival brings you joy, abundance and prosperity. While I can merely hope for all of these things for you, there are certain things which have a more definite chance of happening for you - they'll happen if you choose for them to happen!
To enable these healthy choices I want to share 5 mindset habits with you that are great gifts to give to yourself this Diwali! So let's get started.
1. Choosing your thoughts :
Studies show that we have over 6000 thoughts everyday. And depending on where we are in life, those thoughts can swing between being helpful, enriching ones and being toxic or hurtful to us.
While we may not have full control over what thought enters our mind, we have control in deciding what thought we entertain.
I found a great article written by Mark Manson where he talks about our two minds- a thinking mind which we can't control and an observing mind which we can control. Check it out here.
2. Adopting a no-complaints mindset:
One of the greatest mindset shifts I have personally experienced has been this year itself and it has begun since I started adopting a more positive, grateful mindset. I'm practising a 'no-complaints November' where I'm trying to be aware of when my mind switches into a complaining mode and then trying to replace those thoughts with positive, grateful ones.
I find that we tend to complain a lot about small and big things in life, unknowingly at most times; that brings a lot of unnecessary negativity in life. So, simply trying to declutter our minds of any negative thoughts and trying to adopt a no-complaints mindset can benefit our outlook towards life by bringing in a lot of good spirits and thoughts.
3. Smiling more often:
This is one of these pieces of advice that sounds a little bonkers but works wonders! Smiling for just 5 minutes everyday even when you don't feel like it, can uplift your mood considerably. Just putting a smile on our faces, whether its fake or genuine, sets off a chemical reaction in our brain and it starts releasing dopamine- the happiness chemical. So, through this simple act, we can basically create happiness for ourselves and that's so cool to me.
I've noticed that integrating this practice in my morning routine sets off my day on a much better note. Also, making sure you consume content that makes you laugh - such as sitcoms, romcom movies and memes; and being around people who make you laugh can have a much bigger impact on our overall mindset than we might give it credit for.
4. Taking things one day at a time:
Life is like a complex jigsaw puzzle which can be fit in place one piece at a time. Taking things one day at a time lets us chew on what we've bitten and allows us to digest it properly. Also, sometimes we can get so caught up in the bigger picture that we forget to live in the moment. This is one of the lessons I've learnt this year. Always being obsessed with the bigger picture can affect us adversely and cause us to miss out on a lot of great moments that could otherwise take place if we just took things at a slower pace.
Taking things one day at a life actually allows us to live life at a pace much better suited for living and not merely surviving.
5. Romanticising your life:
This is one of the lessons I'm realising. Especially in 2020 when there's not much scope for a lot of 'happening' moments in life, its necessary to look at our lives as something that we can indulge in and savour. We deserve to make a big deal of routine things that we enjoy and I try to do this through my routines. I like taking my time and setting up my space when I'm working out, journaling or having a self care night. It adds more meaning to my life and makes the smaller moments cherishable.
We all deserve to feel good about the way we are living our lives.
These are a few mindsets and habits that can add so much to our daily lives if we try to incorporate them. I hope that they bring you the same joy and comfort they bring to me. I hope that this Diwali this is the gift that you give yourself. I hope it adds a lot of light and brightness to your life.
If you liked this blog post, feel free to share it with your friends and family as a Diwali gift. Let's all benefit from these mindsets.