Success
Hi, Thinking out loud here.
Welcome to Mindful Monday, week 12
Here is the link for this week's playlist. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0kAyG4nYAv2L8aAN9LrLva?si=ad5272f1f9aa4a42 I hope you enjoy listening along to it whilst you read, and I hope you find the music relaxing. If an ad plays during listening to the playlist, please just pause where you are reading and wait for the playlist to play again, as hopefully the playlist will be timed for you reading to the end of this blog post, with maybe one song running over after you have finished reading.
Get a drink, maybe even a snack, and find a comfy seat so you can relax. Let go of all worries and enjoy the next five deep breaths. If you have breathing problems, please take an extra mindful moment here. For those joining me in the breathing exercise, breathe out.
Now time for your first deep breath; take one deep breath in through your nose for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1..2.. breath out through your mouth for five 1..2..3..4..5.. Hold for 1.. Breath in for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1..2.. And out through for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1.. Breathe in for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1..2.. And out for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1.. two more to go; breath in for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1..2.. And out for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1.. last one deep breath in for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1..2.. And out for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1.. now go back to your regular breathing pattern. I hope you now feel calm and relaxed.
Success is made in many ways. For some people, it’s making loads of money; for others, it’s simply getting out of bed in the morning, and for many, it’s making ends meet to put a roof over their family and food on the table. When I look at success like this, I notice a few differences, the first one being the people making a lot of money. I think we can all agree that that seems pretty successful. I think we would all like to have a lot of money and be comfy knowing that life will be ok. I know there will be that lingering thought, maybe of knowing it could all be gone at some point, but while it lasts, it’s a pretty good success.
The next is those who find it hard to get out of bed, something many of us take for granted. Still, for some, it can seem like climbing a mountain, not made easy by things they are battling telling them to stay, not to bother getting up, but they do get up despite every bone, muscle and thought in their body wanting and urging them to stay in bed. For them getting out of bed might be the only thing they do that day, and that for them will be a considerable achievement and a massive success. For me and maybe you, it’s as easy as turning on and off a light switch (though dare I say, some winter mornings, I would happily stay in bed until it’s warmer.)
Then we have what I think I can safely say is the majority of people who are just making enough to survive to pay bills, rent, a mortgage and have just enough left over for food. Every bit of that is a success. Maybe some weeks or months, there might be a bit extra money leftover, but it may not be much, but it is an added extra bit of success. This kind of success can be both easy and hard.
If you are doing something you love, then the achievements you make become their own version of being successful. It can be harder to see those small moments if you are doing something just to get by. Other people might see them, but we don’t as ourselves living that life. If this is you, I want you to step back for a moment, look at where you are, how you have got here, and all the things you have achieved up to this point in your life, even if you have to think right back to younger years.
In fact, I want everyone to take a step back from looking at what's happening right now in your life. Look at everything you have done, from learning to walk, talk, dress and wash yourself to being able to feed yourself. Look at you getting through school, even the hard days you got through them, you become stronger, look at high school, if you went on to further education, or went straight into a job, look at what you achieved. So many people will look at your life and wish they’d done theirs as you did with yours.
Now look at you as you are; you are still here; there might have been moments where you thought, I can’t do this anymore, what am I working for, what am I living for. But look at you; you’ve done some pretty amazing things in your life that no one else but you did. No one has done this life thing the way you have done it; that is so successful of you.
Be proud of yourself for what you've done, for what you continue to do. Everything you achieve is a success. Your breathing, your heart is beating, and you are living. If you have bigger plans than what you are currently living, start living your dreams, don’t wait for the perfect time. It is never more perfect to start than right now, so stop waiting and start living your dream.
If you are already living your dream, don’t stop, don’t take it for granted and always be thankful for the success you have and that you have made. There will always be people watching you, wishing that they could be living your life. Show them that it’s possible to live the life you live. But don’t fool them into it being easy, as we all know that it takes a lot of work and time to get to where you are.
If we show and share our success, teach and let people learn from us, the world, I think, would be a much kinder place. A lighter and happier place, teaching people that anything in this life is possible, that we don’t have to work for big company giants, we can work for ourselves, we don’t have to work for the government. We can decide our own hours; we can determine when we have our weekend, when we go on holiday, or when we want a week off here and there because we can, we don’t have to let a boss know or book in time not to be working. Success to me is, having your own hours and being your own boss; this is my meaning of success, and this is my dream and what I’m working towards.
I know you will have your version of success, I would love for you to share your success(es) in the comments and share what you are working towards, no matter how big or small they may seem to you. To anyone reading them, they could be that thing that sparks what they have wanted to do but been putting off.
Please know that no success is too small or big. If you managed to get out of bed, I want to celebrate that with you. If you’ve just made another million, I want to celebrate that with you. Or if you’ve been able to pay rent, your mortgage, bills and put food on the table, I want to celebrate that with you. Whatever you have achieved this year, the past month, week or day, I want to celebrate every bit of that success with you because it all deserves to be celebrated. And always celebrate those little wins that get you through every day.
Let's finish with a three-deep breath breather.
Take one deep breath in through your nose for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1..2.. breath out through your mouth for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1.. breath in for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1..2.. and out for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1.. final breath in for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1..2.. last breath out for five 1..2..3..4..5.. no hold here you can now go back to your regular breathing pattern.
As always, thank you for taking the time to read this week's Mindful Monday. I really do appreciate everyone who takes the time to read them and listens to what I have to say.
Love always
Thinking Out Loud xx :D
Let your success grow daily, and celebrate every little win you achieve.
