Listen

What do you hear the first thing in the morning?

Listen to yourself.

If you begin with a clear mind, very likely you will sleep peacefully at night too. You may start to question this because however clear the mind is in the morning, there will always be something that happens during the day that gathers over a period of time and soon clutters the mind. This is very true. But if you know exactly how you can declutter daily before you sleep, your mind will be cleared within minutes.

Very often, it is our usual practice to let things linger within for no particular reason. Perhaps you like to mull on happenings to find a solution to a problem. Perhaps there are things that you have not finished doing that is bothering you. Perhaps it is your health condition that is keeping you awake at night. Find the reason. Talk to people during the day.

If you are finding it hard to talk to people, just get a notebook and write down all your thoughts and feelings throughout the day. It does not take much effort to doing so. Manually writing things down give you the sense of belonging. You know you have actually thought about this problem you are facing. Perhaps, now is not the time you get the answers. So, it is time to just let go. Look through your notebook, think about what you have left out, and write it down. If there are still things lingering in your mind, just write it down. Place the notebook next to your bed and tell yourself that all your problems and worries are taken care of. Go to sleep with a sense of relief.

There is a reason why the notebook should follow you by your side at all times even when you sleep. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to think of the things that are bothering you, you still find it hard to remember to write it down. There may be times when you suddenly spring out of bed with your heart pumping so fast you feel all the negatives coming your way. It is like having the whole world fall onto you. With your notebook right next to you, it will be easy to just pick it up and write it down. Write whatever your heart tells you to. Just continue writing until you calm down. Listen to yourself. You will know when it is time to get back to your beauty sleep.

Listen to your inner self.

The human mind is a bag of tricks. It is always playing around with events of the past and the future. How often do you really observe what is happening now?

There is always a calling but we fail to listen. We are always thinking of the past success or failures. Many of times, we let the past success bring us to a level so high we cannot tolerate when the waves hit us right now. It is hard to understand why the past success is not continuous. It is unbelievable how we can be brought up so high only to fall deeper and harder. Sometimes we let past failures bog us down to thinking that it is impossible to excel now. This is just plain limiting beliefs. What we failed at in the past may not continue to be a failure now. Perhaps the time was just not right. Perhaps we have not met with the right people to enlighten us. Never ever give up your dreams.

There are people who are always busy thinking about the future instead of living life now. Are you one of them? Do you ask these questions? What if people laugh at me? What if I fail? “WHAT IF’s” can be turned into a positive notions if you are living here and now. What if I succeed? What if I am better than I thought I would be? What if I can help others achieve their goals too? These are very strong notable instincts that all animals have. These are the instincts that the top 1% of the people around the world have. The world “afraid” does not exist in their dictionary. The choice is in your hands. Choose to be just you or the better you.

Listen to your animal instincts. Attack when the time is right.

 

The word listen contains the same letters as the word silent.

Alfred Brendel KBE, Austrian pianist and lecturer, 1931-present

Chatter

Learn to quite the mind.

I remember having a t-shirt, long-sleeved, with a red telephone on a pole and the wordings Chatterbox on it. I do not remember how long I had it for but I do remember I liked it a lot. Perhaps it was because I was so talkative my parents literally labelled me as a Chatterbox.

There is nothing wrong with being talkative. A chatty child may be talking a lot of nonsensible words or broken sentences but we can never tell if this is a gift. Children have a clear mind. They are the future. It is only right to nurture them to become an outspoken person. With positive thinking, the child now may be the Tony Robbins in future.

While chatter is a good thing to many, it can also be something that others despise. There are people who only talk about imaginary events happening in their lives. Perhaps it would be great to make into a movie but it is not so great to point fingers and make others look bad. We all live our own lives. We are at no position to bad talk about other people just because they do not live the way we expect them to.

Complaining about others with pointless views is as good as killing the person. Some people just enjoy making fun of others. While it may be just for a good laugh but we have to be sensitive enough to understand if the person is okay with our jokes about them. People nowadays face more stress and end up being depressed without any symptoms. One wrong joke about the person and we will regret for the rest of our lives.

This is not to deter anyone from being opinionated. It is just a reminder that we have to be responsible for every word that comes out of our mouth.

I remember seeing a very interesting short animation. A bird was feeling a little sick on the ground. A cow ate grass nearby and dropped dung over the little bird. Though it smells horrible, the dung kept the bird warm and safe from harm. It took the bird a little time to heal and when all is well, the bird made its way out. Upon seeing the bright day after hiding under dark for some time, the bird is delighted and started singing. A hungry passing by cat noticed the happy bird and ate it with no mercy.

Lesson of the story – when shit happens, it is not always bad. When we are in deep shit, it is time to stop and learn. Just lay low, keep quiet, and prepare ourselves for the days to come. There is no need to announce to the whole world that we just got out of shit.

Humans are not the only beings that chatter. Many other animals can do that too. The birds outside have been chattering the whole morning. I do not understand their language but I do know that birds are great divas. They light up my day. They bring love and joy to their surroundings.

No matter how happy birds make me feel, there are always people that think otherwise. There are people who would complain about anything under the sky. I have heard people say that the birds are singing way too early, as early as four in the morning. They are light sleepers and it is difficult for them to get a good rest. While many think that this may be just the way they are, I feel that there is a reason and a solution for everything.

We have to be patient enough to spend time understanding ourselves. Most often, we are too hard-fixed on our daily lives we think that life is as such, that there is no way anything can be changed. If we are to open our minds, there is always a different path for us to choose from. It may not be laid out nicely with golden bricks. It may be a rough off-course trail. If we never try, we never know. We may find a rainbow at the end of the path.

When we are calm within, all the chatter in the world mean nothing.

 

We live in such an age of chatter and distraction. Everything is a challenge for the ears and eyes.

Rebecca Pidgeon, American actress, 1965-Present