Four weeks into January, and life is way too heavy.
You only have to listen to or watch the news, and it's enough to make you feel glum and hopeless.
When was the last time a report on the TV news made you feel happy?
I'm delving in and out of Haemin Sunim, "The things you can see only when you slow down".
It has sat on my ever-increasing pile of books, waiting to be read.
With the latest Middle East crisis and humanity intent on self-destruction, it is a respite from a raging storm, and I am only sorry I didn't read it sooner because it is joyous.
It is full of anecdotes, philosophical opinions, and introspection. It is not a self-help book but a collection of snippets of mindfulness and self-love.
Watching humans misbehave makes me reclusive, saddened by the news and never-ending catalogue of repulsion and antipathy.
Since 2019, the world has spiralled into this selfish, narcissistic culture fuelled by inept governments and poor leadership.
People behave as if they are the only ones that matter, completely lacking in self-awareness, judgemental, selfish, violent and greedy.
Sunim writes about mindfulness and gratefulness.
By being aware of ourselves and one another, we can be more attuned to the needs of others.
It is a nice sentiment but overly optimistic, given our world.
The simplicity of Sunim's book is to see the world positively so that we find good things to smile at, but I admit January finds me struggling, wrestling with the need to adhere to my main goal for this year: MOVE FORWARD.
There is always something to be grateful for, even when life is tough, yet something about January makes it demanding.
Somehow we get sucked into the vortex of stuff from bad weather, work not going well, illness and a feeling the world is against us, all of which I can relate to as it applies to our household.
In the last four years and since COVID, the world has become a challenging place.
In the face of it, humanity has morphed into uncaring, interspersed with occasional acts of kindness, but these acts seem to be few and rarely reported.
People are unkind and unhelpful because they feel no one cares for them or their needs.
We live in an always-on world in motion with no time to slow down and catch our breath or time to connect to the moment and what is around us.
We all have days when we face an uphill battle, and it's easy to forget that there are people worse off than you.
Monday was one of those days when one thing after another poked my well-being and pushed me and my brain to the edge, leaving me feeling out of control and weary.
Instead, I floundered into the evening, exhausted and mentally worn out.
I downed tools, took a few slow breaths, and said enough is enough.
Closing the office door meant shutting down the day.
At that point, I inhaled deeply and shifted my mood from miserable to neutral, appreciating that the world will continue to turn, and I will be back again tomorrow.❤️