Society has made us think that we are not enough: you do not have a house, you do not have a husband/wife/serious relationship, a career or something else. The truth is that society wants to feed you an illusion of a perfect life so that it can force you to buy things.For example, they sell you the idea that your life cannot be complete without a house, and they will force on you a mortgage so that you can buy a house, and then you will get into debt so that you can live a life that you may not want. Maybe your idea of a happy life is to be free, not being in debt for a house because maybe you have not decide were you will settle, that for a moment you want to see places and explore the world.
The world is big and you might feel helpless in front of the life’s events, trust me, don’t panic. It takes a lot of courage to be as you are in this moment in time: broken, happy, conflicting as it may seem. Feel your emotions and make a plan. Don’t ever feel that you are behind in life, because you are on your own path. Nobody has experimented your life and what it took to get here, you are right were you are supposed to be. Keep going, you will succeed. Keep going, you are going places. You can do whatever you want. Believe in yourself.
Minimalism is a concept that you may have from time to time, but you do not fully grasp it or align to its values. Minimalism, essentially is living with less, living with intention.
From what I have seen on YouTube videos, on styling channel, capsule wardrobes was a way that they presented minimalism . Simply putting, those girls they were styling gray, beige, white and black clothes since these colors were interchangeable and they will always match with each other, something that did not appeal to me at all. But minimalism in therms of wardrobe doesn’t have to be that way, it should be selecting the colors that suits you and the colors that you love. I recommend reading David Zyla’s book “Color your style” in order to find the colors that best suit or watch videos on YouTube related to personal color analysis, this way you will wear flattering clothes and you will not buy ruthlessly fast fashion or clothes that will only be in the land field.
Living your life doesn’t mean getting attached to things as Joshua Becker says in his book “ Living with less”m, it means living and spending more time with people in your life. He suggests having less things, as this way you are not own by the things you won, meaning that a bigger house requires bigger maintenance expenses that will lead you working overtime and feeling tired, you will not be able to enjoy things in life, you will only be controlled by them. Be careful not to buy things to appear wealthy in the eyes of other since others do not care. At the end, what matters in my opinion is how you feel, you want to be happy and free or you feel that you need that you must go in debt to buy a house just because others are settling down. For others, having a home even tough through debt may bring comfort, while for other may bring anxiety thinking about debt repayment. I have said it before, buy a house only when you are ready if this is is you in the last example, that way you will feel more at ease ( maybe after you find yourself in a promising field that it will provide you mental security that you are in the right path, bear in mind that this is only one way of thinking and you should always do what makes sense for you and your family).
Another internet blogger in the field of minimalism, Francine Jay suggests buying only what is necessary and also when buying keep the rule, one in, one out from your house- donate, sell or throw anything that is of no use or you really like it. She says that our things can be split into 3 categories: useful, beautiful and emotional. Think also about buying locally since it is more gentle to the environment and helps local economy.
One quote that I really liked is: “ success and excess are not the same thing “ (Joshua Becker). Becker says that being healthy for you in order to do the things you want , it matters is morethan working out for an exterior appearance in order to please others.
This year, I want to become more aware of the clutter I have in my life, I will try to donate everything that is not in line with the space. I suggest that you tune in with your emotions. Are you buying to fill in an emotional void or do you really need that? Buy only what is useful for you and meaningful, that way you will live a more balanced life and be gentle to the environment.
There goes without saying that no country in this world is better than another, but Japanese may come pretty close. The Japanese way of living is a very balanced way of living and all we can do is learn from them.
Contrary to Hector Garcia and Frances Morales’s book, the Ikigai Encyclopedia by Ken Mogi defines “ikigai” as being in harmony with the environment and those around yourself. He describes in this book, that in order to live a happy life, Japapnese people enjoy eating something sweet/enjoyable in the morning. You do not need to do something enjoyable for work but you can find something that you enjoy to do every day after work, you can pursue you passion after work hours. You can find meaning in every situation.
Another Japanese concept is Nagomi-this refers to balance, comfort and peace for the heart& mind, the equilibrium of multiple factor. In this other book- The way of Nagomi, Mogi suggests that in orders to find nagomi you need to forgive yourself your past mistakes and forgive others for the things they made against you.
You do not need to love something in order to find an ikigai, you only need to find small enjoyable things around yourself- you need to search for the activity you do without caring what others think of you. In order to remain yourself, as he suggests, you need to embrace change and leave the past behind.
I hope that in this new year you will learn to love yourself, to take one step at a time in the direction of your dreams. Believe in yourself.You are strong. YOU CAN 🙂
It goes without saying that health is the most important aspect of your life. Not being healthy can limit you from performing certain activities and while being sick, it is the thing that you miss the most, that you wish you were grateful for being healthy.
One of the key steps to having a healthier life is to begin to accommodate daily exercise in your daily life. For the next month, plan to have some objectives:
-daily walk
-a week without sugar, limit your intake only in weekend in small amounts
The emotions that you have can bring you insight on why certain situations are not good for you. More and more, different author came to the conclusion that oriental medicine already know that physical health is in closely bond with the emotions you are experience. That is why when exercising, the brain releases dopamine, which makes you feel good.
The people of Okinawa, a Japanese island manage to live a longer and healthier life than anyone else. Their secret is that they do daily exercise, have a healthy diet rich in vegetables & fruits and fish. In addition to that, they provide great support towards each other and have different activities & hobbies. Being surrounded by people you cherish, strengthens your immunity that protects you from illnesses. That is a great lesson for all of us, surround yourself with great people that are there for you even in bad times, not only when everything is perfect. Being healthy means being also in a great mental shape
Nowadays being healthy weighs more than having money. Health is the greatest asset that one man can have.
As one of the Tibetan proverbs says:
The secret of living well is:
Eat half
Walk double
Laugh triple
& love without measure
Tibetan proverb
Balance in eating is key to having a good health, since most medical conditions improve/become worse depending on the diet you have. According to dr Uma Naidoo, the best diet to follow that helps reduce most mental health conditions and improves overall health is the Mediterranean diet. This diet consist of plant based foods such as legumes, fruit, nuts, seeds, whole grains, herbs and spices. The Greek & Italian cuisine contain plenty of delicious meals that are good for your health.
By maintaining a healthy diet and doing exercise you are one step of having a good life. Try to avoid eating sweets as these are the ones that do the most harm to your health. As for exercise, you do not need to go to gym every day, you can achieve movement by simply walking and enjoying the landscape. Also, it is said that by walking every day, you not only get a great posture but also the Vitamin D that you desperately need. As research shows ( according to dr Uma Nadidoo), by increasing your intake of vitamin D, you can ameliorate the symptoms of depression and avoid mental health conditions. If you have been trough that path, you know how important is to be healthy. Also, walking around can also help improve cognitive function by clearing your mind.
There are great doctors out there that share their resource for the greater good. One of them is Dr Eric Berg that uploads almost daily videos on YouTube related to various conditions. One of the steps he suggests in achieving weigh loss and having a healthy body is by inter-mediate fasting, this way the body clears itself of the toxins and also the body starts “eating his fat reserves”. I highly recommend also check out dr Megan Rossi ( also known as the Gut Health Doctor), she provides great valuable advice in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. She is also an advocate of the impact of diet on the gut microbiome, the gut having a key role in a lot of medical conditions.
All in all, maintaining a balanced lifestyle is key to living longer and healthier. Make sure you remember, that you should food isn’t the only thing that can be toxic, so avoid as well toxic relationships. Take care of your mental and physical health.
You are not multidimensional, you are multidimensional. Your story is not entirely bad if wrong, is a succession of lessons, people, loves, bad & beautiful things. It’s every second that your heart is beating.
One day you are happy and the next the day you find yourself, crying your eyes out of head, your heart is beating fast, you feel sad and you wonder what you did wrong. My dear, something is clearly wrong, maybe you put work on the top spot in your life priorities while your health was declining and you didn’t had anyone around because you were too busy working. Or, maybe you put someone’s else needs first that you have forgotten that YOU, yes actually YOU are also a HUMAN BEING in this world. So, WAKE UP. The world needs you to be yourself and the world needs you also to be healthy and happy. It’s time to rethink and redesign your life.
Your mental well being starts by acknowledging your emotions. How an I feeling? Am I being stressed? Am I angry?, Am I happy? These questions may not be easy at first to ask yourself, but with time you will be an expert at recognizing your emotions.
You may say that you are OK, but are you really? You will find yourself after work constantly browsing through clothes website buying everything juts because it was on sales or it was a nice color. So, when you are going to wear that dress/shirt if you are all day at work. Take it from me, I was there buying things just to fill in a void that I was feeling. Putting too much effort on solely one aspect of your life can cause anxiety ( you constantly feel that that you are not doing the best at work even though that is the only thing you do) or depression or both. You can spiral quickly into depression after you were in burnout and then you only realize that there is more to life than work. So, my darling make a list of what you value in life and start prioritizing your well-being: mentally & emotionally. Remember that one person is your life that is always there for you is YOU, your body and soul. You may have a beautiful soul, but that souls needs a healthy body to live in, not a train wreck that war overworked until your bones come out of it. Being kind means being kind to yourself first and then to others. Take care of you, not one else will.
Notes from Ladybug 