Hello dear reader,
Happy October!
It’s a new month, a new week and a new quarter.
I feel as if we’re in the final lap of 2023. Three-quarters are over, and how?!
The final quarter is here and that means we need to be all the more intentional with our days so as to bid 2023 a wonderful goodbye.
But before I add anything more, I want to ask,
Is there anything you said you would do this year but haven’t done yet?
Is there anything you thought you would do more of or less of but haven’t been successful in?
Is there anything you hoped would happen, but hasn’t happened yet?
If yes, I want to tell you that it’s okay.
It’s okay to be disheartened, but don’t don’t let yourself stop from trying again.
Last year I wrote a post titled ‘Allow yourself to get discouraged’. There I shared that getting discouraged is a wonderful reminder that you’re walking the right path and should be so proud of yourself.
As for myself, there are many things on my list as well that I couldn’t do that I had hoped would do, so many things that I hoped would happen by now, but haven’t happened yet.
One example is that I have not been recording my podcast episodes which I had said I would every Thursday. I missed two Thursdays while I was gone for my summer vacation, and after I came back I missed another, and then I felt like, “It doesn’t matter!”, “who cares” and the most common lie, “I don’t have the time”
I’ve been reading in the morning, but my evening reading where I mostly read novels hasn’t happened much. I have hardly read any novels and stories this year.
I had planned to travel someplace new every quarter, but it didn’t happen this past quarter. I just went to work and home and nowhere else this July-August-September (also because I didn’t want to leave my kittens again)
And there are still so many other things on my list.
The reason I am sharing this is because I want to tell you that we all struggle and it’s not only you.
We all slip. We all go off track. We all go far from ourselves. You can expect it beforehand.
It is because we struggle that we have a chance to grow.
Expect and accept the power of off-track moments.
What matters is that you come back again.
I could say all bad things to myself.
I could tell myself I don’t have discipline, I am not good enough, I am bad, and I have done it in the past, so much that it led me to grave depression, insomnia and anxiety.
But now I know better, and to be better is to be kind- to ourselves and others.
Criticism does no good. Only with kindness can we make a better comeback.
What comeback are you going to make in this final lap of 2023?
Don’t think of all the things you couldn’t do and why this year is already wasted.
Instead, list out all the things you did in the year so far that you are proud of and happy about.
I am adding these little things to my list too:
- I am proud of living alone wonderfully and taking care of myself
- I realize how much time housework really takes and I am proud of doing all the household chores from cooking, cleaning, arranging, grocery shopping, and taking care of the kittens, my plants, etc. all by myself while also blogging and going to work.
- Looking after my mother financially and living in abundance now.
- Keeping my home neat and tidy, always and taking care of how my home makes me feel.
- Keeping up my faith and prayer.
- Prioritizing rest and relaxation.
- Starting this newsletter and growing it slowly.
- Keeping up with my podcast even if it was till June of this year.
- Learning to respond instead of react
- Going on my first solo travel
- Not failing to have hope and trying again.
Make your own proud and happy list- ‘I made it this far-list’ sometime this week.
Then make a list of things you would like to do or give more time to this quarter.
What are your intentions?
For me, it is to challenge myself to write 1000 words every day, read more, go on more solo dates and work on my evening routine.
After this, think of what one change you would like to make this last quarter.
Not two, not three. Just one.
What is the one change that you can make that will put you in a much better position to do the things you want to do?
It can be to get rid of social media, go TV-less, or Netflix-less, fix your sleep schedule and wake-up time or cut off on your complaints.
Name that one change and do that as a challenge this last quarter.
For me that one change that would make all other things easier for me would be to wake up at 4 am.
I realise that waking up at 4 a.m. would solve all my problems with regard to what I want to do and create this quarter. And I have already begun with my challenge.
What about you?
I hope you write down your intentions and think about this one change.
Don’t wait for 2024 to make a comeback.
Make a comeback now with kindness and compassion.
That you’re trying is courage too. That you’re not willing to give up is perseverance too.
Before I end, do remember this quote,
Courage does not always roar.
Sometimes courage is the little voice
at the end of the day
that says, “I will try again tomorrow”.
May we put more intention into our days this last quarter of 2023
Happy October to you!
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 ❤️
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