Eyes closed, in a cloud not high nor low.
Floating, breeze toying with your skin.
Inner peace.
Not cold, not hot, warmth inside out.
Moment, and moment, and moment.
Easy smooth. Gliding, skin warmer, eyes still closed.
No ground, no sky, neither up nor down.
Around, and around.
Stillness within.
Moment, and moment, and moment.
No sky, nor ground. Only soft as cloud.
Peace.
Is destiny real? I believe it is. So is serendipity. I think though that we are sometimes so caught up with out daily activities and thoughts that we either do not see destiny or that we are so caught up in our circle of routine lives that we barely allow destiny to say hi.
When it does pass us by we see it as an anomaly or a fun coincidence that we fail to fully understand it or consider it as something more.
It can sometimes be that we meet people recurrently at the oddest places. It can also be an opportunity that you could purse that seems a little far fetched- but it’s right there just waiting for you to make a move.
Whatever form it may take, destiny will come and go, it will be your decision whether to hold its hand when it offers it.
What will your choice be? Ignore the hand, or take a leap of faith and see where it leads?
I have been having this thought on my mind for a while and couldn’t simply share it on my Twitter (@nalhilal) since it will be more than 240 characters.
The idea of the Phoenix has intrigued me for a very long time. The mythical creature that dies by internal combustion and turns into ash only to be born again from those same ashes.
The phoenix symbolizes renewal. In a sense, we can say that our spirit can be like the phoenix. It can die and be born anew within us. This of course is different than the traditional resurrection or reincarnation. This concept is more of a rebirth of the mind.
I do believe that we can develop and learn however, is it all accumulated, or do we lose something when we gain something new? When we move on, do we let go of somethings, or do we keep everything and just keep building on what and who we are? There may be answers out there, maybe even scientific answers that have studies on how the mind develops and how it learns. Although, what matters here is the concept itself, of being born again, or being renewed into something similar but maybe better.
This has been on my mind recently because of what I have been experiencing lately. Pursuing what we want in life is directly related to our ability to pursue it. We become capable of pursuing what we want when we develop ourselves in a way that gives us the knowledge, strength, and mental ability to follow our goals and achieve them. Sure, we do build on our knowledge, however this does not mean that we remain the same as we once were.
Herein comes the idea of the Phoenix. When the time is right, it dies, but it is born again from within its own ashes. So even when you feel like you’re at the end or when there is no exit or hope, believe in your own rebirth and be born again into the person you wish to become.
It starts with an audible “tick”. You think nothing of it, engrossed in your task. You hear another “tick”. This time it sounds different, yet the same. As your thoughts assemble, your thought process is disturbed again and this time you hear these ticks faster. Before you look to see what is happening, you already sense that relaxed feeling in your chest.
It is raining.
It is that feeling of joy you feel, your young heart wants to go out and run around in the rain. Yet, you smile to yourself just imagining that thought and knowing that you so very well could do so. You think you probably shouldn’t get yourself wet, but seeing those drops of water falling from the sky are inviting.
You hesitate for just a moment, just enough to clear your mind and then you rush in. You close your eyes, with a faint smile drawn you lift your head ever so slightly, just enough for the water drops to glide across your face. Your smile widens, and how your heart starts to beat a little faster since your excitement has grown.
Eyes still closed. Raindrops caressing your face. You think of nothing, but of the water as it drops on your face, on your eyelids, your cheek, your forehead, your lips, and then your smile widens and you taste that raindrop. Your chest is swelling with emotion and you start to chuckle to yourself.
This is it. Pure happiness.
Life is full of distractions. Distractions come in all shapes, sizes, types, things, people, thoughts. I believe an important thing to consider is whether the thing you encounter is a distraction or not, regardless whatever form it takes.
For me, thoughts are a distraction. I sometimes need to actively stop myself from thinking or the path that my thinking has taken. The problem with distractions is that they cause unnecessary responses, actions, or feelings that do not contribute to what you’re trying to achieve.
If you’re heading for a goal, distractions can prevent you from reaching that goal. It is then up to you to decide whether a distraction that comes up is welcome or unwelcome, whether it will eventually help in you reaching your goal or not. Sometimes serendipity does its magic and in fact you are even closer to your goal.
Sometimes distractions are unavoidable and have to be dealt with. In this case, you need to manage it to the best of your ability, in order to move forward.
Focus. You can achieve what you want to achieve, all you need to do is start believing.
I have a huge writing task ahead of me. Actually, not one huge writing task, it seems most of my current major tasks are all writing related. You’d think since I’m writing here, I’d like to write there, but not really. This is my warm up, sort of.
Ever notice, that we used to be able to write so much before, but the more we get older, the less we want to write, the less we want to think, and definitely the less we want to hear. What do you do when you have several huge tasks ahead of you? What’s your routine?
There are those who love to go to cafes. They take their stuff, order their double shot espresso, or triple ice-shaken vanilla toffee Spanish late (whatever works), and they chill out with headphones and get to work. Then there are those that work at home have their own space and their own thing. I can’t imagine another scenario here. What rituals can there be?
Hmmm.
On a side note, I realized that sarcasm doesn’t get through too well online.
Ever known someone for quite a while, then lost touch and got back in touch with them only to find out that they haven’t changed at all, for better or for worse? That’s happened to me a few times, and I guess its happened to some who have known me as well. In fact, when I see someone whom I haven’t seen for a while, when I see that they haven’t changed I feel like I’m the one who’s changed. This sparks thoughts like, “maybe they’ve changed but revert to their previous self because they feel more like how they used to be at the time.”
Yeah, I agree, this is a very intense topic way early in the morning and it got me thinking. I for one take steps to improve myself, my communication, my interactions, to make the lives of those who are closest to me and those I care about better. I’m definitely not the same person I used to be a year ago for example, yet I try to be genuine to myself and to others. Like principles, that I see have been lost by many.
What I want to get across is, you can always improve yourself. You can always make yourself better. You can always keep moving in a positive direction. A key and I believe is the most important thing is not to lose yourself or who you are during this whole process. Changing for the better does not mean being someone else, but being the best version of yourself.
I’ll admit it. I’ve been very detached recently, in almost everything and every aspect of my life. You know when you sometimes pause. Just pause, either to think, take a breath, distract yourself, or even just rest. I believe I’ve been excessively pausing, to the point where things are quite scattered (whatever that means). But hey, at least it is something.
If you’re like me, you probably question almost everything. You question yourself, your actions, things around you, people, their actions, interactions of the world, well everything. After a while you think to yourself, that you’ve thought too much, and try to get back to whatever it is that you were doing, say entering your pin at the beeping ATM machine while a hoard of people are getting impatient with you’re moment of spacing out.
Getting things back together and aligning them and working on them one by one isn’t an easy thing to do. It can be done, with some focus and some persistent determination, it can be done.
Stay positive, and persevere.
All the best,
N.
P.S. All stock photos are from https://www.pexels.com (free and no watermark!)
There is a law in physics that states every mass in motion stays in motion unless a force is applied to it etc (clearly I don’t feel like explaining so much). The point I want to make here is, anything that is at a standstill can move very fast in a specific direction, but it needs either continuous or increasing force in a specific direction.
Way too much theory if you ask me.
If I’m in a stage in my life, where things are mundane, and I want them moving in a specific direction, where I’d want them to reach a specific target, I need to move in that direction. Moving means changing my state and possibly the states of the external forces around me that may keep me at my place.
Break free.
Move forward.
Don’t look back.
Stay positive.
Never stop.
Never give up.
Always always always keep moving.
Once you’re able to keep that momentum, keep that motion and force, the more determination, the more resilience you will build.
One last piece of advice, for myself, for you, and everyone on such a journey is…
…as you move, in the path you want to be in, to the destination you want to be at, accumulate as much positivity as you can. Never stop accumulating positivity, you never know when you may need it.
~ N.
Living is like being a t-shirt.
You grow up and you’re being sewn together.
When you’re ready and set on the shelves of the store, that’s when you’re ready to face the world.
You get picked up, and that is when it all starts.
The care, the abuse, the show.
You display yourself out there, you get criticized, you get put down, you get complimented, you get dirtied, you get pulled, pushed, and thrown.
You get picked up, cleaned (violently in a washing machine at a 1200 spin cycle), you get dried in a breeze of fresh air (or tumbled with scorching hot air rushing through you).
You get ironed, steamed, or pressed and you feel fresh, you feel alive, you feel awake and ready for another cycle of show, abuse, and care.
You’re neatly folded, tucked away, or hung in a closet among other t-shirts, all waiting for their day in the light.
What color are you? What do you look like? What’s your sign? What are you made of?