Happy April, dear readers
I hope you have been enjoying spring and keeping well.
I have often shared how I divide my year into four quarters at the start of the year.
So now with three months having gone by, the first quarter of 2024 is over and it’s the start of a fresh new quarter.
April-May-June
What would be the one thing you would like to focus on for this quarter?
This morning I sat down to answer it and did my weekly ritual of setting my weekly planner.
Then I wrote down my ‘March Gratitude’- a list of all the things I am grateful for that happened in March.
This is something I do at the start of every month.
There were 31 things in total I noted down.
Let me share with you a few from my March Gratitude list:
- Grateful for meeting my two friends Alija and Nirupama in Kalimpong and us being together and having a wonderful time
- Grateful for getting help from a stranger- who appeared out of nowhere and who to our surprise was the right person (the head officer of the railway department). Through him we got help getting a reservation for my dog in train by getting coupe tickets for the first time in first class AC.
P.S If you want to know how to travel in train with dog in India, here is this.
- Grateful for my friend Dikcha and her sisters for their kindness who stayed over at my place and looking after my cats while I was away for a week.
- For redoing my balcony again and enjoying my time in the morning in my green space
- Grateful to receive kind emails from my dear readers. At a time when people have their attention span so low and constantly distracted, I am so grateful for receiving all these emails sharing their heart with me. It means a lot.
- Grateful for my mom’s bond with her sisters- Pratishta Asu (Asu in our language means mom’s younger sister) and Pratima Bari (Bari means mom’s elder sister). They make each other laugh so much and I enjoy their company so much.
- Grateful for Elsa and Ariel’s good health and their playful nature.
- For having a nice time with my sister- Boons Asu who had come to visit Kolkata for official work.
- Meeting Vishakha, Ragini, Udita and Akanksha for a home visit
- Meeting my friend Dikcha’s mum for the first time and spending an evening with her sisters and her mum having a small momo party at their place.
- For doing the best I can each day.
Here are other things to do at the start of each month.
Anyway, for today’s newsletter, I just want to share a simple reminder and practices for A.P.R.I.L
Here they are:
A- Allow yourself to surrender.
Table of Contents
This does not mean to give up, but rather it means to let go.
To surrender means to trust.
‘Surrender’- make it your word, your motto for the month.
If we truly surrender, there will be no anxiety, no worry, no panic.
We are only anxious because we fail to surrender.
Surrender and let go of all the things you think ‘should be’, ‘should have been’, ‘supposed to’ and all else.
Where are you not trusting? Where do you need to surrender?
Surrender to God, to the Universe. Everything happens at its best time.
Trust the timing of the Universe. You are always taken care of.
P- Practice positive affirmations
Yesterday I met a sister.
She told me how her self-esteem and self-confidence had gone down because one of her colleagues day in and day out told her she was not good enough, that she didn’t know anything, that she didn’t deserve to have this job.
She said she has been hearing this every day for months now and this was severely affecting how she thought of herself too so much so that even when she’s doing something well, she feels that she’s going to mess it up.
She has lost all confidence that she can go after her dreams and do things.
This is so common.
I too have faced it throughout my childhood from a family member and it’s so hard to break free from it.
You have to be very aware of whenever they are saying such words to you and make sure you reject it then and there.
Don’t ever let how you think about yourself be based on somebody else’s narration.
I feel the best way to raise our self-esteem and confidence is to practice positive affirmations. It has worked tremendously for me.
We are always affirming, but unconsciously we only affirm the negative- “I can’t”, “This is too hard”, “This is impossible”, “I will never be able to do it”
What you keep repeating is how you keep acting.
You need to change this pattern and deliberately practice positive affirmations.
You can write it in your diary every morning, you can listen to it or read them out loud every day.
Just make sure you are saying plenty of positive affirmations, plenty of ‘I can‘ every day that go directly to your subconscious so that it becomes a new way of thinking for you.
Here is one positive affirmation video- 101 Power Thoughts. I had shared this earlier too and sharing once again. It’s by Louis Hay and I love listening to it every morning.
Also, some positive affirmations from my blog:
R- Read at least one book this month
Pick a book to read this month.
The first book I’m reading for this April for my morning read is A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle and for my evening I’m picking ‘Pride and Prejudice’.
On my birthday, I got a complete set of Jane Austen books and I am planning to start with Pride and Prejudice.
P.S 10 Books that changed my life
I- Instil goodness in whatever you do
My mother is the best example of doing this.
When she is cooking, she cooks with a lot of love. She is always singing, or listening to music and cooking.
When she is watering the plants, she does that with so much love too. And truly this makes a difference in also how plants and flowers bloom.
When she was away from home and one of our ‘daju’ was given in charge of watering the plants and flowers, none of them bloomed.
But when she starts taking care of the garden, everything looks more vibrant and more flowers bloom.
Every day we may not get a chance to do something great, but we can do the things that we get to do each day with a lot of goodness and love, and that is itself leading a meaningful and successful life.
When at work, be sincere in your work and do your best.
At home, do your chores with joy and it will reflect in the home too.
Sincerity and joy are everything. It pierces the heart of the Universe.
L- Live each day meaningfully.
Life is present only in the present moment.
The present moment is always safe.
In the future, you might have fear of what would happen.
You might be anxious about how things will work out.
You might be worried about how in the future, you might struggle. Or in the past, how you messed up.
In the past, you might have wasted a lot of time.
But that doesn’t matter at all.
The past is gone and the future is not yet come.
I know this is something that everybody says, but really, in the present moment, everything is safe and sound.
At this very moment that you are reading this, at this very second, at this very moment, EVERYTHING is okay.
As long as you’re breathing, as long as you’re not kidnapped, as long as your family and loved ones are alright, everything is okay.
Each morning wake up with a grateful heart and vow to live each day fully and meaningfully.
Pray. And if you don’t know how to pray, just pray that your life is just this day. You just have to take care of this day. And pray that you’re able to do it wonderfully.
Live each day wonderfully because you can if you see it as one day at a time or even one present moment at a time.
P.S This was a part from my Mindful Monday Newsletter. If you liked what you read and want to receive my updates, join below. It would be wonderful to have you ❤️
Past Newsletter you might like:
Leave a Reply