IT’S 3 OF 12 ALREADY; HOW ARE YOU?

We’re already sixty-four days into the year, WOW, and in twenty-six days from now the first quarter of the year will be gone never to come back again. I’m glad we’re seeing the beautiful days of 2021, it’s a blessing that can never be measured and I hope we’re taking hold of this blessing and not just letting it slide.

So in that light, how are you? Read that question again, please. How are YOU doing? Not your jobs, goals, achievements, or targets, but you, the person reading this blog. Is your mental health stable? Are you physically fit? How well do you handle your emotions? When last did you do something that made your heart smile? Are you around people who give you peace and are mindful of who you are or you’re just hanging around firefighters and seeking their validation that isn’t in their place to give?

Setting goals, smashing them, and being an efficient staff and (or) business owner are all good things and our lives aren’t even complete without these things but they shouldn’t be on the top of our scale of preference. We have to know that whatever value we intend to put out to the world isn’t authentic until we give value to ourselves. We have heard this quote several times, “you cannot give what you don’t have”, and so it is imperative to focus on building.

We aren’t in a productivity contest and everyone is allowed to grow at their pace provided you’re putting in the work consistently. Comparison is the thief of joy; don’t compare your growth with someone else’s. Growth is a journey and just like you take things that make an actual journey enjoyable for you, so should you in the journey of life.

I had a friend who noticed that yoga makes her body and mind relaxed, but she failed to do her yoga routines because she stayed with friends that didn’t see the need of that at all; they thought it to be a complete act of foolishness, and so my friend discontinued her routines and she confessed she felt worked up, tired, had body pains and couldn’t get to concentrate much when she picked up a task to do. One day, she decided to start and as her flatmates tried making her feel less, she boldly confronted them and continued with her routines. Shortly, the friends joined her and they also began to enjoy the routines. Have you ever thought of this, nobody stays in your life forever, so why should you try to please people that do not understand you? With the world’s population, you definitely will attract people who value you.

Happiness doesn’t mean you are living the “Barbie in a dream house” type of life, happiness isn’t void of pain. You will hurt, cry, lose, fight, fail, fall and get confused because pain demands to be felt but your emotions demand that you handle them properly. Your mind, brain, and body all depend on you to feed it with the right nutrients.

When you achieve that goal, will you be happy whether or not it makes noise or not? Are you happy that you got the right result and did the right thing whether or not the next person applauds you? Happiness comes from within not without.

If building a particular habit will make you happy, then please do. Most people believe that the things that make you happy doesn’t involve work, but that isn’t true. If you love cooking and eating healthy means, then take out time to go to the market to get those ingredients, set aside time, and commit to cooking, then enjoy your meal and learn to make that a habit. Goals are good but systems are better. Building systems takes discipline, and the earlier we discipline ourselves into doing the things that make us fulfilled and better individuals, the higher we grow in our life’s endeavors.