📖 Current Read; 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living — Ryan Holiday
Take A Walk
The Daily Stoic Meditation for June 21 outlines the simple power of taking a walk
Photo by Matthias Münning on Unsplash
“We should take wandering outdoor walks, so that the mind might be nourished and refreshed by the open air and deep breathing.”
— SENECA, ON TRANQUILITY OF MIND, 17.8
Getting Caught Up
It is incredibly easy to get caught up.
Rather than looking objectively, rather than taking breaks, rather than expressing gratitude, we can get caught up.
We can get caught up in;
- Work
- Relationships
- Emotions
- The future
We can get caught up in pretty much anything.
The Risks
Spending all your time caught up in trivial problems is incredibly fatal.
When you spend time caught up, stressing and anxious;
- You lose objectivity
- You become less productive
- You become less happy
- You may be controlled by your emotions
- You become less creative
Take A Walk
As advised by the stoics, take a walk!
Whether you feel yourself getting caught up or not doesn’t matter, for you can take a walk at any time.
What matters is that you implement walking into your daily routine.
Why?
As outlined by Seneca, the mind is nourished by open air and deep breathing.
Walks, long or short, are a chance to rest. Walks are a chance to refresh.
Walking gives your mind a break from tireless work, so that when you return, you’re much more energetic, alive and productive!
Make It A Habit
The best thing you can do with taking a walk is to make it into a habit!
Rather than just doing it randomly, perhaps once a month when you remember, you can cultivate a strong habit that adds routine!
Make walking into perhaps a daily or weekly habit, depending on what suits your life.
Why?
To cultivate a strong walking habit is absolutely imperative.
- It ensures that you do not forget
- You begin to enjoy it more
- You may challenge yourself (and go on longer walks etc)
- You’ll be much calmer and relaxed in every day life
If you make walking a strong habit, there’s little chance that you’ll forget!
How?
There’s one key to make anything a habit; consistent practice.
To make something stick, you just need to repeat it.
Of course, there’s a bunch of other things I’ve outlined in an article that help with habit formation, but consistent practice is a great starting point.
Idea of the Week. 💭
The things you desire are yours to take.
Lots of us have the wrong notion — we believe that the good things we desire have to come later in life, usually after retirement.
The truth, however, is that you do not have to wait at all.
With awareness and vigilance, you can have those good things now.
It’s Right In-Front Of You
Yours
All of the things you desire are right in front of you.
Things such as;
- Happiness
- Wealth
- Success
- Love
- Friends
- Opportunities
- etc etc
All of these desirables are yours to take.
You do not have to wait for retirement, you do not have to take the long road.
You can seize these opportunities and have these things now!
How?
There’s two key parts to this;
- All of these things are present in life, you just need to look for them.
- All of these things are present in life, you just need to choose them.
Awareness
You need to be aware that everything you desire is eternally present.
All of the things you desire are actually present, at most times.
They are not far away dreams, they are not unattainable.
The love, the happiness, the opportunities etc — they are all yours, and they are present.
You must focus on this.
You must cultivate an eye for the natural good.
You must be able to spot out the good, the love and the happiness in any situation.
Choosing
You need to choose these things.
If you want to be happy, you must try your best to elect happiness in all situations.
If you want to be relaxed, you must try and relax yourself in any way possible.
If you want to be loved, choose to go into every scenario with a loving attitude!
Choose these good things.
They are there, and they are yours to take.
Quote of the Week. 🗣
“The more skills and knowledge you acquire the more opportunities that arise and the more failure and success you will experience. Success is never an accident.”
This quote from Ross Harkness outlines a simple truth — success is not an accident.
Success is derived from hard work, luck and practice.
It is never an accident.
More Skills & Knowledge
The quote first outlines the fact that you have to work to gain more skills and knowledge.
If you have a hunger to improve, and a desire to know more about your field, you’ll advance.
More Opportunities
More skills and more knowledge lead to more opportunities.
People will observe that you have the skills they need, and pick you for certain opportunities!
More opportunities is exactly what you need if you want to succeed.
More Success
With more skills, more knowledge and more opportunities comes greater success.
There is no doubt about this.
You will make it.
More Failure
Of course, you can’t have all of this without failure.
More opportunities, more chances and more success inevitably raise your chances for failure.
—
However, failure is not something you should fear!
You can use mini fails and mistakes to your advantage.
Learn from your failures and come back stronger.
To end, here’s a question from me! ⚡️
How can you get into nature today?
Even if the weather is awful, even if you don’t feel like it.
Make a point to spend a little time in nature, for it is refreshing and rejuvenating.
Thanks for reading!
Until next week,
Sam. 😆
