“Well-being, well-being, well-being. If I hear anymore about well-being!”
“Whats mindfulness? I keep reading about that too but I don’t get it. Seems like hard work. Not going to bother looking into it.”
The self acclaimed well-being guru’s and organisations (although mean well) can sometimes come across as a little patrionising. I’m paraphrasing here, but in my head what they’re telling us is to follow some magical 5 step plan that goes something like this: “Sure go for a walk around the lake or in the woods and clear your head. Do some home workouts there and you’ll feel grand. If I was you I’d try some meditation or yoga, there’s loads on youtube. Make a list and throw down a few goals there. That always helps”.
“Its that easy is it?” Maybe but not to the ego in me.
More often than not, I (the ego in me) just doesn’t want to do them things. It wants to procrastinate. The story I (the ego in me) tell myself is “I havent the energy. I feel stuck. I feel lazy. I’m tired. I feel shit. I have loads of weight on. I’m craving for chocolate. I don’t want to be seen. What if I meet someone I know. Look at them there on Instagram on holidays again looking fab, they have it solved. I can’t wait for the weekend and be out of this s**thole. Who has time for this s**t anyway?”.
So the ego in me doesn’t want me to feel good. Thats the first thing. The ego loves the drama. Its addicted to pain and suffering. It wants more and boy will it fight to stay relevant. That is why these “5 step guides to well-being” videos just doesn’t cut through if we are not in the right place (aware/present/conscious) to hear it.
The general point is, that happiness, fulfillment, contentment isn’t something that can be achieved by getting out for a run, joining a hiking club or working your ass off to get that promotion. We can run all the marathons we want, climb the world’s highest mountains, earn stupid amounts of cash and still be equally unhappy. A deeper inward journey of exploration is needed. And it starts with taking a conscious deep breathe. And then another one.
Tip: While you concentrate on your breathing, recognise the voice in your head that keeps popping in and out. Understand that the voice is just the ego in you and not who you really are. Continue consciously breathing.
Practice this once a day to begin with. Then increase this to twice a day. Then three times and so on.
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