Just over a week ago, I returned from a holiday in beautiful Croatia. Although the holiday was wonderful and I had a lovely time with my boyfriend and my family, quite a few things have gone wrong which made my energy scattered all over the place, left me feeling edgy and prevented me from fully relaxing and enjoying my time off. Just want to say at the beginning, that it is not a point of this post to moan- far from it.
Please, hear me out…
So, since we arrived in Croatia, I had many things on my mind, most I had no control over. I found it difficult to relax. To make matters worse, in the middle of our trip, my neighbour had sent me a text, that she is having a leak down her wall and it seems to be coming from my flat. This really upset me, because there was nothing I could do, being so far away. I could only call a few people to deal with it on my behalf. I later found out, it had nothing to do with me, as I always triple check everything is switched off before I leave home.
Another inconvenience came out of upgrading my mobile phone (online), just a few days before our trip. I didn’t give any of this a second thought and assumed that all will work out fine. It turned out later, that the whole process wasn’t as smooth as I thought it would be. I received my new phone a couple of days before the trip, but without my original number being transferred to it. My network provider said, the number will work within a couple of days, but sadly it didn’t. I was on the phone to my network provider daily, for the first few days of my holiday, without any success. All of it was big chaos, and of course, dealing with the leak situation and having two different phone numbers didn’t help either. Luckily for an iMessage being connected to my original number and my email address, I didn’t miss any important messages. But then, something happened which really struck me.
Just a few days before leaving Croatia, I learned that a girl, I’ve been following on social media for years had lost her life in a tragic accident. I didn’t know her personally, just through the internet, but felt really connected to her in many ways. She was a beacon of light in this world and a beautiful person inside-out. At that point, I’ve had enough. I broke down and gave up. Despite all the scenarios listed above, the magnitude of this situation put all of them aside. They were so insignificant, just general inconveniences. I felt sad, powerless, confused, upset, heartbroken and angry. All of these situations were so unimportant, in comparison to what happened to this beautiful young woman who was only 35.
The lesson from this is to stop taking the little inconveniences so seriously. I know they can be annoying, but after all, they are not a big deal and can be somehow resolved. Let’s be grateful for every single day in our lives and for all the amazing people in it. Let’s tell them daily how much we love them and appreciate them. Let’s be more loving and compassionate towards each other, even towards the people we don’t find so easy to connect with. After all, they are also human beings, sometimes confused and scared the same way as we are. Let’s stop making such a big deal of things that don’t really matter and take them more lightly. Let’s invest our precious energy to that which matters the most.
Couple of weeks ago, I found myself rushing around my local supermarket. It was a murky day outside and quite cold. I was a bit tired and agitated. I wanted to get my shopping done as quickly as possible and get home. On top of that, so it seemed, everybody decided to be in my way. When I was at the fruit section, it was crowded with people. When I went to pick up my tea, there was a woman, who was indecisive about her tea choice, taking over the entire section. It annoyed me. By then, I began feeling frustrated, exhausted and somehow trapped. Why is everybody in my way today? …I asked myself. Then, I suddenly realised, what I was actually doing. I was attacking innocent people in my mind and making myself feel bad at the same time. I acknowledged my own impatience. I had to take a different approach. I’ve decided to step aside for a couple of minutes and take a few, deep breaths. Deep breathing always centres me back in the moment and makes me realise what really matters. After couple of minutes, everything rearranged and I felt so much better. I reminded myself a beautiful quote by Saint Francis de Sales: ‘Have patience with all things, but, first of all with yourself. I was able to finish my shopping, get home and finally relax on the sofa with a cup of nice tea. Listed bellow, are some ideas I would like to share with you about patience. May they inspire you.
Books are a pure magic. When we read, we not only escape this reality for a little while (which some people like to do), but most importantly, they educate us. Reading is one of my favourite activities. Whether it’s a good fiction, a self-help or any book about the mysteries of our Universe, I can get lost in it very easily. In this blog, I would like to share with you some of my favourite books, which changed my life in many ways. If any of them speak to you, definitely check it out. Dive deep into that book, and see if the magic that occurred for me happens for you too.
We all have some regrets in life. We all would like to change certain things or rewind back to the past and erase them completely. Do I have regrets? Of course. There are many things I would have done differently. There are many examples in my own life where if I could, I would trust my inner knowing more and certain people less. Many people hurt me in life, but I must admit, I also hurt some people with what I said or done. Well, we are all guilty of something. But this is all over and done with now. I want to focus on the good, only remember the valuable lessons and enjoy my life to the fullest. I realised, regretting something is only going to keep me stuck in the past. This way I am unnecessarily re-living some difficult past experiences, and feeling the unpleasant emotions all over again unintentionally. What a waste of our precious energy and this beautiful life that is? But it doesn’t have to be that way. I am excited to share with you a few ways I deal with regrets and I strongly believe they will inspire you.
Last week I sat in my hotel room in Boston, Massachusetts. Life has been very hectic lately. This was keeping my mind working overtime for months. As I sat quietly on my bed, I suddenly heard the voice of my soul ‘Turn down the noise Jana’ The voice was soft and comforting. Just hearing these words gave me a permission to stop and just be. A sense of calmness showered my entire being. It allowed me to be still, breathe and relax. I became fully engaged in the present moment and that’s all I needed at that time. I didn’t want to talk to anybody, to check my phone, I didn’t want to switch on my computer or the TV. I was breathing, I was at peace and that was all that mattered.
I must admit I am a natural worrier. I worry a lot, but in the last few years I learnt many great techniques, which always help me to re-direct my energy from worrying to believing that all is well. One of my favourite spiritual teachers, Doreen Virtue says: “Worry doesn’t help anything, it only keeps us busy doing nothing.” That’s so true. But we all worry, even the ones who say they don’t. The good news is, we can all learn how to stop over-worrying and live more at ease. I am very excited to share with you some powerful techniques in this blog.
We live in a busy world. Everything happens very fast, almost instantly. Meeting deadlines, scheduling appointments, looking after children, house work, shopping and on top of that, a full time job. Life can be very hectic sometimes. We are often unable to really keep up with everything we have planned to do. If you can see yourself in this, you are not alone. It does not matter whether you are a parent or you are single. The truth is: life can be busy. In my opinion, balance is a myth. But I often find having clarity, priorities and being organised can help enormously. Bellow is a list of five ways that can help you deal with a busy lifestyle.