Welcome the spring into your life

Spring is in the air. The 6-8 month long Canadian winter is finally coming to an end. Nature is waking up, earth is booming with fresh life. You can smell the excitement, the energy, the hope in the air, the vibrant colors are back in the malls. It’s the time of the year when the weather becomes unpredictable in GTA with variation of 20-30 degrees. It’s hot one day with +15 Celsius and its freezing the next day with -15 Celsius.

Spring is the time for renewing your life, refueling it by filling the gas tank with higher octane energy, marking new beginnings and for planting the seed for some fresh thinking. It’s the time to emerge from the shadows of hibernation, shake off the lethargy and embrace the future with joy.

It’s the time of the year when people typically do house cleaning. So while you are getting rid of the unwanted stuff from your house, how about applying this same concept to your life this year and use this time of the year to spring clean your mind, your thoughts?

Some of the things that I plan to do this year to prevent my mind from wandering back into the caves of darkness are:

Remove the cob webs from the heart – We all have difficult moments in our life. We come across people who are really mean to us for no reason. We carry the grudge and the complaints in our heart all the time. Some of us including me never every forget the insults and feel the burden and pain deep down inside. Why do we do this? Why can’t we just forgive and forget and move on in the life? I have realized the more we think about those moments the more they hurt. I am going to take the time this year to clean up that clutter in my heart and be more forgiving. I will learn to let go.

“DON'T SWEAT THE PETTY THINGS AND DON'T PET THE SWEATY THINGS.”

Break an old unhealthy habit – Why do we always have to run at 100 miles/hour? Is it a race against time or do we fear that if we don’t run as fast as the next person, we will be crushed/defeated in this race of life? In this sprint of life we pick up a lot of unhealthy habits without even realizing, for example procrastinating, and drinking to beat the stress, over eating. We eat to live and not live to eat and getting high does not get rid of your problems. You have a bad day at work – what do you do? You go back home and take the frustration out on your spouse or your kids as if they had anything to do with it. This year make a commitment to yourself to break away from at least one unhealthy habit.

Speak my mind – How many times do you really speak your mind? Are you afraid of asking questions? Do you think people will think you are stupid in a meeting if you ask that question? No question is considered stupid only if you make an effort to ask. I know it takes a lot of effort to “Call a spade a spade” in front of aggressive people. But trust me you will feel much better if you pour your heart out rather than keeping it inside. So make a promise to yourself, trust your instincts and speak up.

Connect with an old friend – Life goes on. We move from one school to another, one job to another in some cases like me from one country to another several times. We meet a lot of people during this journey, some of which leave an unforgettable impression on our mind and make a special place in our heart. But do we always stay in contact with our old friends? Recently one of my really good friends from school looked me up on the internet and found me on the face book. I can’t express how wonderful it felt to connect back with an old acquaintance. We talked for hours about the fun school days and laughed like crazy. My friend posted a 24 year old class picture from the school time and it left me reminiscing about “The wonder years” of my life. So go ahead and seek out that old friend who you have been procrastinating to connect back with.

Find that swiffer for your mind and heart

Let’s all use this opportunity in life to create a mind that feels shiny as a mirror, fresh as a blooming flower and be ready to face the renewal of spring. Find that swiffer which will enable the mental dusting, cleaning and polishing.

Welcome the spring with open arms into your life and believe me the effort you put in to plant the seeds of happiness in your life and to nurture and guide it in the right direction, it will pay off with the fruits of gratification.