Embrace new experiences at every opportunity
I’ve started travelling to work by boat in the mornings to make the most of living by the river. A chat with a fellow passenger this morning reminded me to appreciate and embrace all of the differences we encounter every day.
Try seeing life through a child’s eyes
We both commented on how every journey by boat is different and that because it is new and different your natural reaction is to marvel at that difference, as a wide eyed toddler would. We were both a lot older than the toddlers sat at the front of the boat, though no less wide eyed!
For better or for worse, you are with ‘you’ for life
This, in turn got me thinking about the fact that we are faced with a different version of ourselves every day. For better, or for worse, it is different, it is new – and it is always, you. It made me think that perhaps it might help to learn to embrace the newness and the difference, whether we love the difference or not. Some days your body and mind will feel great, other days, it might feel less great.
Be gentle with yourself, be kind to yourself. After all, it’s the only body and mind you have and will ever have in this lifetime so why not treat it with respect, love and care.
We learn to label things as good and bad, at the end of the day they are all just experiences
Recognise and say thanks for the good things and for those that we label as bad, try to be with those experiences and know that ‘this too shall pass’ and tomorrow we will be a different version of ourselves once again.
Try not to label experiences of body and mind as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Try just feeling them, be in the moment. The good and the bad labels are in part responsible for the rollercoaster of emotions that our experiences spark in us.
Why not mix things up and start labelling bad experiences as good – after all, there might be something we can learn from that. I don’t know about you, but I’ve learnt just as much from so called failures as I have from successes in life. Yin and yang, good and bad, fast and slow. There’s a time and place for everything in life.
And here’s looking forward to what tomorrow may bring…..
Calming Crohns 