Enjoy the Silence

Please read:

Writteninformationwithnoorganisedbreaksmakescomprehensiondifficult

Wellplannedtextwithgoodsentenceandparagraphconstructionwillaidthe readersabilitytounderstandtheinformationtherein.

Was it easy to read? to digest? to comprehend?

This is exactly how we do feel when we don't take any mental break in day(s)/ weeks/ months/ years. We lose connections with our inner self, we don't have enough time to digest & reflect on what is going on with our life, or in which areas we are changing, what are our values, the worse it to reach a point where we ask ourselves who we are?!

Now, here is the same sentence with organised breaks …
Written information, with no organised breaks, makes comprehension difficult. Well-planned text, with good sentence and paragraph construction, will aid the reader's ability to understand the information therein.

I bet it is much easier to read and digest without stress.

These breaks between words are silence... Silence is ssssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhh; no chats, no TV, no radio... It could be by laying down before bed or staying in bed early upone wake up, or while watching sunset. Silence has no settings or position.
In silence there is an opportunity to observe thoughts and examine what pops up whether they are ideas, concerns, worries, people, emotions, etc.. Silence is a meter for examining life. Sometimes, after the silence agitation could be experienced, meditation & breathing could be used to return the inner self to peace & serenity status.





May we enjoy the silence.

Adapted from http://www.positivepath.net/ideasCJ7.asp

Loss of Hearing My Inner Voice

It has been a very very long time since I had a day to myself. On Friday, I went down to Wadi Mujib for an overnight. Here is how I spent my perfect 24 hours!

While driving I was listening & singing some of my favorite oldies & enjoying the scenery along the road. Immediately after checking in around 4 pm I laid down on the hammock facing dead sea. I started eating Man'aoush half zaa'tar & half cheese :-) yummy yummy. How humanity could survive without zaa'tar :-)

I rocked myself (on the hammock) from one side to another till 9 pm. I was not reading, nor listening to music... I was just observing silence, sea, mountains, sunset, darkness, stars....filling my soul with peace.

I went inside my room assuming that I am gonna sleep on the spot, instead I read till 10:30. Next morning, the minute I opened my eyes & for 2 hours tugged under a blanket, laying on the hammock I felt & enjoyed the early sun light & cool breath. After breakfast, I took some pictures of the area & went down to the sea level with my book. I kept on tossing under the sun like a Shwerma on a grill & reading till 4:30 pm. I finished the novel :-) then I went back to my room packed & laid again on my hummock singing my gratitude prayer.

I uprooted myself to leave... left craving for more. Despite this unfulfilled feeling & the short period, I managed to see a tremendous change of how I was feeling before & after. A soul make over!

I can't believe of all what I know about myself, I managed to clutter my inner self with daze, chaos and noise. To extent I have hard time hearing my inner voice. I lost my serenity & connection with myself. I lost my best friend. What terrified me most, is that when I considered going alone a feeling of of aloneness & loneliness overwhelmed me. Which I never had before...I do maintain & restore my balance when I am alone.

For months I had this nagging need of spending time in nature by myself or with just one friend. My daily working out is not enough any more to maintain my serenity. Exercising in a gym is not a meditating routine… not like walking outdoors. Staying in my house for a couple of hours now & then is not enough... I could not any longer digest & reflect on all these events, emotions, & people around me.

I transformed my life from a life revolving around a few precious people to a life full of people & social events. I no longer could manage a balance between time for myself & time for others.

I know my reasons for postponing spending time alone but it is not an excuses to permit myself to reach such a stage. These noises & chaotic emotions that fills my soul have to end. I want my best friend & true self back.

It is just one corrective action that I need to take: Plenty of out door activities alone

My recipe for a perfect day consists of:

• Being in nature, near water is an added value
• Enjoying silence
• Hearing my inner voice
• Reading a good book
• Eating yummy food
• Listing my blessings

May our souls be blessed with serenity, peace & connection with our true selves.
more photos

My Recipe to Happiness

At a certain point of my life to be more specific in June 2003 I decided that life is not worth living. Life is ugly, hard, tough and not fair. So, I took the decision that either I find my way to happiness no matter what I go through or....

After 5 years of my decision, I can say I am happy this does not mean that life got much better! My secret recipe might be applicable to others.

First -Happiness is now, not when I get a better job, more money, or find a partner. No more postponing. My happiness is met with minimal conditions, in indifference if my “if conditions” are met or not.

Second- What happened has happened in the past. It shaped me, made me who I am. I am grateful for all what I went through. I tired hard to deal with my past, pain, & agony. I did my best to get over it & let it go. Sometimes past do pop up again but now I have better things to focus on :-)

Third – Over the years I cultivated good habits through daily practice. I no longer put effort to do them but I can't claim it was easy. My new routine allowed me to maintain a certain momentum of happiness even when things go wrong. What have worked for me are:

• Keeping my gratitude list active
• Nurturing my relationships; specially my 1^st circle of relations
• Doing some random acts of kindness to strangers & people I love
• Exercising; walking, swimming, playing squash, etc..
• Connecting to nature, spending as much time as I can out doors
• Contemplating on beauty; sunset, sea, mountains, kids clouds, smell of flowers, delicious food
• De-cluttering- I no longer keep things I don't use in a year. I no longer keep books from university days or documents from my work, or cloth that I don't wear. I enjoy giving stuff away.

Fourth- Happiness is my internal status not the result of life circumstances. I do get sad when my company lay me off, when my relationship with my partner is spiraling down, when.. when. But they don't knock me down or let me lose my insight on the other great things in my life. By having happiness as my ultimate goal I became healthier, stronger, more helpful, creative, and willing to try new things.

Tweeting what I said: Happiness is achivable coz it is state of mind that consist of positive emotions and & positive activities.

May we all be happy.

Progressing From Motivation To Habit

Even though I love working out & I fully realize its value. It was not easy to maintain a daily work out. After several trials and errors during the years, I prevailed. So how I managed to make working out equal to brushing my teeth. Here are my tips:

Mental Attitude
I developed a mental attitude that working out is not a pleasure it is a necessity for my well being; not less important than eating healthy food, sleeping, brushing my teeth.
Another mental trick; it is a pleasure to have physical pain and my muscles sourness reflects my progress.

Working out Objectives
I set different objectives each season/month; it helps me to accommodate work, social, and personal commitments. Examples; If I have to be early at work this means for that week I workout 45 minutes. Less is better than nothing. In summer, I concentrate on swimming & aqua aerobics; while winter is for weights lifting & yoga.

Set Regular Time
I workout on a regular time every day; my preference is in the mornings. Simply because I clear my mind, restore my energy, get my time alone, and I don't worry if I will be stuck at work or with any social commitment. I tried exercising after working hours but at that time I am hungry or tired. Besides, I get energized to do nothing (watching TV) and worse I end up eating most of my evening.

Working out Is An Appointment
I am busy and have a lot of commitments; but I plan my weekly working out as any other appointment that I have to keep, and it is jotted down on my calendar.

Logging
I log what I exercised; aka minutes of meetings :-) It helps me to know how I am progressing & percentage of how much of my objects are met.

Enough Sleep & Food
I make sure I sleep enough hours and eat healthy food. How would I mange to get out of bed if I just had a couple of sleeping hours. I am not into hurting or knocking myself down.

No Working out
I hate obligations & guilt feelings; I am not into making working out a burden. So I made sure to know when I am not exercising.
My "No Working out" List is:

• One of the weekend days I rest
• No workout when I am injured
• I exercise lightly when I have flu
• On business trips, I can skip if there is no time or space to work out
• On vacations; I skip if my mood is set on Lazziness
  

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.

How much I love to workout?!

A loooot. I found the heaven of working out when I decided to quit smoking. I guess I replaced a bad addiction with a better one :-)

I am not going here to preach on how to be motivated. But, I managed to get up most mornings for the past 8 years to workout, Why?

- I keep my sanity- Every single day I get out all my disappointments, anger, frustration, negative feelings, in straight forward words I practice a Daily Emotional Detoxification

- I have sustainable source of energy

- It is MY time; not for friends, family, or work

- I add life to my life. Walking seaside, hiking in a forest, playing squash with friends, cycling on an island. Wow; who could say working out is an obligation

- I stay connected with nature; sun, sea, wind.

- I become a genius; I find solutions. Not sure my concentration has got any better ;-)

- I am worry-less about gaining weight. I have space to worry about other things!

- Being fit gave me confidence to try new activities and challenges

- Shy to admit but I really love to touch and feel my muscles

- And finally, maybe I managed to add a couple of healthy years to my life.