“Nature’s intelligence functions with effortless ease . . . with carefreeness, harmony, and love. And when we harness the forces of harmony, joy, and love, we create success and good fortune with effortless ease.”
The Law of Least Effort
Deepak Chopra – Seven Spiritual of Laws of Success.
This week make the most of the four day week and notice how you can achieve just as much, if not more, when you take the pressure off yourself.
Much of our week is spent on tasks that consume too much of our precious time, for example, constantly checking emails and mindlessly surfing the internet.
If you value your time use it wisely. Working smart is about quality over quantity. Remember that we are not robots and, like nature, we achieve easily and effortlessly when we trust ourselves to perform to the best of our ability. Try simple changes like checking emails just twice a day, turning off any alerts to your phone and stay off the internet entirely after 8pm at night to ensure that your brain can wind down for a good nights sleep.
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.” Victor Frankl
If Victor Frankl, Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist, had the foresight to see the positive reward of pausing before reacting to any external circumstances, then I believe most of us can incorporate this empowering technique into our daily lives. Frankl endured three years of gruelling hardship and torture under the Nazi regime and yet never lost faith in finding meaning for his life in even the most adverse circumstances.
This week, observe your response to external stimuli and use your breathing as the tool to create a space to choose how you wish to react. It is the acknowledgment that we can choose that is the first and most crucial step to becoming the masters of our own freedom.
In county Roscommon on a little road in the countryside under some beech trees there NOW lies a blanket of bluebells. This flower is the symbol of humility and gratitude.
These simple, beautiful wild flowers blossom for an average of just two weeks per year. The leaves on the beech trees then grow more thickly blotting out the light and the flowers slowly fade. The opportunity to see them is gone for another year.
This week, thinking of the gentle bluebell and how it is similar to the transitory nature of life, allow yourself to be fully conscious to each moment as it blossoms. Each time you see the colour blue remember the bluebells and be gratefully aware in the present moment.
Positive psychology research has illustrated that one of the key aspects to boosting our own happiness levels is by helping other people.
A recent study followed students for six weeks who had carried out random acts of kindness such as, holding doors open, giving blood, offering people lifts etc. At the end of the study, it was reported that the students who had consistently carried out acts of kindness everyday experienced an increase in their own levels of happiness.
This week, focus on helping people in whatever way you can. Make a silent commitment to yourself to carry out three random acts of kindness per day. You will notice a feeling of what psychologists refer to as ‘moral elevation’; we feel more positive when we help people. It is really a win-win situation.
Above all, remember to be kind and compassionate to yourself – particularly at any moments when you feel challenged.
”Wherever you are, be there totally.” Eckhart Tolle
This week, bring your attention to each and every precious moment. If you find yourself resisting the moment for whatever reason – if you are bored waiting in traffic, fed up with the weather or even if somebody is irritating you, ask yourself, can I change this moment? If the answer is no then accept it just the way it is. If the answer is yes then you can change it, but instead of complaining (which is an automatic stress response) either speak out in a positive way or simply leave the space.
Inner peace comes from acceptance as opposed to resistance. When we take away inner conflict and the busy traffic of our thoughts we have a chance to be fully present and to allow the best part of us to shine.
This quote on happiness from the Russian novelist seems, at first glance, almost too simple. With a little reflection, the depth of his words become profound. The state of “being” and not doing is at the core of mindfulness and meditation. The cultivation of “just being” is the constant returning of our awareness back to the present moment. When we are truly “being” in the present moment and our minds are free from the constant traffic and noise of our thoughts we have every chance to implant the seeds of happiness and joy.
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“Nature’s intelligence functions with effortless ease . . . with carefreeness, harmony, and love. And when we harness the forces of harmony, joy, and love, we create success and good fortune with effortless ease.”
The Bluebells in the Woods
Random Acts of Kindness
‘If you want to be happy, be.’ Leo Tolstoy