ART OF LIVING......MY WAY

A friend of mine has been coaxing me into joining The Art of Living. Much As I respect the teachings and methods of such a course, I find no need to take it. To me the art of living can not be preached, but it can only be learnt and realized from within.

Living is an art, there will be stress, unhappiness, sadness, but then there also is joy, happiness, laughter and all that is positive to view. I myself have to have the mental and emotional clarity to be able to take the good with the bad, happiness with sadness, pessimism followed with optimism and so on.

Life is meant to be lived to the fullest. It is full of surprises, sometimes there is more sadness and less happiness, but then we have to know how to make the best of both. You have to be able to stand firm and take all that life bestows, the expected and the unexpected.

What is the Art of Living to me, I have been asking my self. Have I learnt from my mistakes? Am I a pessimist? Do I keep seeking more, than be satisfied with what I have…questions galore…but one thing I know for sure, I am mostly a happy fun loving person. I always find something to laugh about. If God was to ask me to make some changes in my life would I want to live this Life again……YES, I say. I have a few regrets, I would do something’s differently, but I would want to live this life again and again…..The changes I would make are within my own self, but not ever would I change my family, my friends, my life…I have it all…..am mastering the Art of Living. What does the Art of Living mean to me….in my Quest to understand myself……?

Art of Living to me is…….

Living one day at a time. I live to live, knowing one day I shall die. But as long as I am living, death does not concern me, because when death does come I shall not be alive. If I live well, I know I shall die well too.

I try not to cling on to the sadness more than I cling onto happiness. Happiness and sadness are like children, who you have to let go when they grow up.

All that I have today is, all that I had hoped for yesterday…….so I cherish my today.

When faced with sadness, deep within me I know Happiness shall follow, as I have seen in life the two always balance each other.

I have discovered the capacity within me to enjoy the simple things, feel deeply not for myself only, be needed, and give happiness when ever needed.

I have learnt to laugh at myself more than I laugh at others. My best jokes are directed at myself and this always gets me heartwarming laughter.

To me the art of living is to make the good out of the bad. I firmly believe that whatever happens happens for the best.

I try never to go to bed angry, resentful or mad. What comes with today goes with today. I do get mad, but I also get over it.

My ego. I have realized, always shuts me from people when ever it raises its hood. I am learning to surrender it. It can be big, but am learning to move beyond it. ..Relationships I have realized cannot be built and conflicts not resolved with ego.

The years in my life have gone by, but am glad I gradually learnt to add life to those years. When I look back, I know living has been worth while.

I am gradually learning who I am, and as long as I do not fully discover myself I am curious. But I know for sure my life does not belong to me alone. I am learning to touch lives with warmth and compassion. I do not want to exist, I want to live.

I have learnt to love solitude. When all is still, I feel no anxiety, loneliness. I look within and I feel more acceptance of myself. My inner peace guides me.

My friends and family I cherish, every interaction with them teaches me a little about myself, a chance to build myself as a better human being. They give me trust and joy and make my life rich and abundant.

My soul guides me and my heart tells me that if it is the source of worry, contentment also rises from there. The choices I make, the reactions I give, will define the human being that I am…Yes, am slowly but steadily mastering the art of living…my way at my pace. The overall picture of my life shall be the way I paint it. The way I live it.

THE POWER OF WHY ??????

I am sitting in my balcony, watching the thunder showers, the palm trees swaying and feeling the drizzle on my face. I am letting all the beauty of nature sink in, capturing it with my eyes, in my mind. I love the rain, but I hate the mess, it leaves behind, the muddy water, the potholes full of water, the insects , the mosquitoes…..and I tell myself…Why, Why, am I like this, Why can I not look at the brighter side of life, and ignore the dark side. Life is so full of Whys……..and I ask my self...

Why….is it that sometimes, silence makes more noise than Thunder?

Why……do I think faster than I speak? My words never seem to keep up with my thoughts.

Why……do I see some of my friends who are so God fearing, humble, pious suffer?

Why……do I plan my tomorrow, when I try living everyday as my last?

Why……can I not take each day as it comes?

Why…….do I struggle to understand life in parts, when it must be understood in totality?

Why…….can I not be loved as I have loved?

Why……I love compliments, but do not know how to accept them?

Why……do I not accept things for what they are?

Why..do I see things more clearly in my dreams, than when I am awake?

Why… do I want to know all, when ignorance is bliss?

Why… do I get baffled by reality and difficulties?

Why….do I spoil what I have, by desiring what I do not?

Why…..do I look back on life and have regrets?

This constant hankering of Why is ridiculous. The more I seek for answers the more elusive it gets. Strange and paradoxical it is…..the heart asks and the heart answers. but why do I not get the right answers .Maybe, if I changed my attitude, I would view life differently ?

Living My Today.........

I woke up this morning; Today……wanting not to repeat the same mistake as Yesterday………..so I decided to capture my Today , moment to moment., accept it as now, and not let any moment pass by.

Like I did it to my Yesterday, I decided not to devote it to any one thing …and so here I am ….all happy, not holding on to any dream, thanking God that I am alive to see my Today, with open eyes, something I rarely seem to do. I shall hold on to my Today with enthusiasm, living it with my best foot forward. Today……I will flow with the tide. Or against it…dancing with it….and see which way my Today sweeps me…..

I am going to treat my Today as the first day of my life…and maybe then I shall make the most of it for once, than letting it slip out of my hands, like I always have done.

Are these thoughts because of my Yesterday? A yesterday that went by and I did not even seem to notice. Will wanting to live my Today, contradict my Yesterday? Oh well I am not going to let my Yesterday, takeover my Today. …so beyond Today I am not going to look, and not loose it just because I have a yesterday, and tomorrow is coming.

Thinking of the unseen tomorrow,I get the blues. And I tend to get depressed when I think of Yesterday, gone by... I have spent life piling up so much on these two days, thus neglecting my Today. These two days together, have some how sapped my poor Today of its joys. And I have helplessly, unknowingly stood by letting my Today die, fly away with its unseen wings.

My Today is going to be my canvas, and I shall paint it with all the hues I hold. It shall live, for as long as I want it to, and so shall I with it…….

LIFE.........AND ME

I just read this quote by Dr. Phil on my blog………'Life is a marathon, it's not a sprint'
Set me thinking........

Really………The meaning of life is different to each person…But To Me Life is …

Life is making mistakes, and learning from them
Life is not only being busy but also being able to do nothing
Life is being honest and fair...and yet also faking it at times
Life is sometimes easy, most of the times difficult. I have learnt how to glide thru
Life is made up of big sorrows and small happiness. The small always outweighs the big.
Life is living your dreams, and sometimes chasing them
Life is never the life we imagine, we just keep moving towards our imagination
Life is supposed to be short, but never long enough to pursue our dreams to our hearts desire
Life always gives situations, easy to get into, but difficult to get out of
Life is making plans, but getting surprises.
Life is full of dreams, but demands action
Life is not only wanting happiness, but also giving it
Life is full of passion, and understanding of joys and sorrows
LIFE IS LIFE……SPRINT OR MARATHON…..
It just is worth living...and I make it so, I choose to look for the rainbow behind the dark clouds, I look for the smile that follows the tears. I think of my friends, who brighten my being; I cling on to the memory of my children, grandchildren, to keep the child in me alive
I decide to live it as new everyday….I laugh and breathe life. I am my own spectator of my own life..................and I love living it.