Day 4- Gratitude

Good morning! Hope you had a good night's rest...

On Day 3 we talked about finding inner peace and how to practice it daily. 
Well i had a very interesting day...
It started off as an amazing morning... And after I had written my blog, I decided to make some pasta for lunch.

While cutting up the vegetables for the meal, I was feeling too happy, that I got a little carried away and sliced my finger really good! 

The surprise on my face was enough to tell how shocked I was by this development. I didn't make a noise, cry... NOTHING! As I looked and saw the blood gushing out of the wound, I thought very calmly to  myself "What sort of bullshit is this?!"

My positivity sugar high had come to an end!

I didn't cry, I just tried my breathing techniques to get rid of the excruciating pain.... And it worked like a charm!! I felt no pain but just bliss!!!

After cleaning myself up and bandaging it up with the help of a dear friend, I started to reflect.

First came some anger... Which i kinda took out on the poor new knife. I thought to myself "I shouldn't have bought the damn thing!", looking at it with utter disdain. 
If I could have had a conversation with it, it would have gone more like... "How dare you do your job effectively , and slice my finger instead of a carrot?! If I didn't buy you last week, we wouldn't be in the mess right now!"

Side eye....

Later on, I thought deeply about why it happened, and realized how careless I was while cutting my vegetables. I owned up to it, instead of shifting the blame to something else, like I normally do. 
So I let it go, instead of wallowing in self pity and sadness, and made the best tasting pasta I had ever eaten in my life.
I even forgot all about my cut, and went on to have a great day.

Reflecting now on the day as I write, I have concluded that I was being tested, yet again, to see if I had mastered inner peace.

Last Saturday, which also coincided (weirdly..) with this same Day 3 of my previous positivity challenge, i was tested in a different way. 
Here is how I narrated it then: 

I had an amazing day, beyond comprehension, I achieved most of my personal goals and then went out to a color splash beach party to celebrate. It was a mind-numbing exhilarating experience where I was dancing till I nearly dropped and everyone had so much fun. 
Why am I telling you all of this?  Well, at the end of the party, 3 ladies were looking at me as I was walking towards them, as I was trying to get out of the venue with my friends. As I saw them, I didn't like the look on their faces, so I instinctively turned back. Thank God I did,  because the moment I turned back, one of them threw all the water and ice she had in her cup at me. Most of it missed me, but I turned to face them because I knew what they had done. They started laughing all together, and one of them said, "You are on the beach, so you should know that you are going to get wet!" 
I looked back at them, smiled and walked back towards my friends. At this point, I had never felt so calm in my entire life.

Inner peace makes you clear your mind of any distractions, think rationally and make better decisions about difficult  situations. Plus, I did not let that event ruin my day, but made it even better, because I saw  firsthand that I had mastered self-control and inner peace. The other positive I found in that situation was that most of the water missed me anyway, so their evil plans were thwarted :D.


How would you have reacted if you were in both situations? The way I handled both situations would have been a lot different if I wasn't riding this positivity train. Yup! Definitely...
This makes me believe that I'm on the right path towards self-actualization and happiness. 


 Daily practice:

Every cloud has a silver lining...

There is always a lesson to be learned in every situation... 
Finding the positive in every situation, no matter how bad, gives you a silver lining to hang on to and make sure that you know that it is just a phase and things always get better. 
If you are sick, be thankful for still being alive to fight your disease. If you have relationship issues, be thankful that you have a roof over your head. If you have work/school issues, be thankful you have legs to get there. 
And just be thankful for everyday you wake up to see another day... 
I wake up everyday and give glory to God for seeing another day.

Tip: Self awareness is key. If you find yourself thinking negative thoughts, try the breath IN, breathe OUT technique and think about your happy place until you feel happy.

 Here is a meditation video on gratitude and while doing this, I want you to reflect on everything you are thankful for today. 

These experiences have made me realize that there are ups and downs in life. But we need to stretch out the good times for as long as we can while also learning how to get through the bad times. This not only makes you a resilient person, it also makes you more appreciative of life in general which gives one a sense of fulfillment. 

Always remember to always be thankful. Life is a gift and we must treasure it!

Have a wonderful day as always. And please don't forget to share my page with everybody. Thank you!!!

Peace... Love... Harmony...

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