Contemplation and reflection are so important to one’s daily life and mental health. If only everyone took time to do both these things it would help them so much in finding peace, possible answers and a calmness within that trials and stresses of daily life often strip from us.
So many people have struggles that leave negative feelings within their hearts and minds. This is inevitable as we struggle with so much this earthly life and what people or the world throws at us. Sometimes our trials will be short lived and not too hard. At other times they seem insurmountable. It is when this happens that finding time to sit in peace and quiet is so important for us.
So many today talk of mental health. It’s sadly belittled real mental health issues and upsets due to them making it become something everyone feels they have to claim for themselves. This usually means not being allowed to do what they please and not accepting having ‘no’ said to them. For others, the ones truly suffering from genuine mental health issues, trials, stresses and various problems of life, it can destroy our physical health as well as upsetting our minds.
Living in constant stress can play havoc with a human body causing all manner of upsets and illnesses. It is important for us to recognise this and take time out whenever we are able to replenish our reserves and slow our minds to find much needed peace.
It will be of no surprise to anyone following my blog and work to understand life has been unbearably hard for me and my family in recent times. It has left us struggling badly to cope from day to day, keep our faith and even our sanity, but we’ve managed both.
My life in particular has been severely bad for decades and constant sadness and yes, also badness, in your life constantly is enough to try even the strongest of people, test their faith and put strain on their minds and bodies.
It is at such times we have a desperate need to seek peace from deep within that is often only able to be attained through contemplation and reflection. It is by doing this you can cut out the realities of life for a short while.
Sitting in total peace while making sure your surroundings are as pleasant as possible is important. This can be outdoors somewhere you love , your outside space at home or in a room within your own home. To be in tune with Nature is so healing and important if able, but if time doesn’t allow for this, then a room you feel comfortable and safe in will work just as well.
A half hour or hour can be achieved by everyone no matter how busy whether once a day or once a week. Just before bed, or early in the morning before the day starts are good times for those who lead busy lives. Very early and late hours of the day is when the world around us is often quietest too making it easier for us to bring quiet to our minds.
This exercise can be purely for grounding oneself, bringing peace to minds and bodies that are in great need of both, or as a spiritual exercise. One can even lead to the other so you can achieve both. Whatever we need will be given us at such times. All we need is the willpower to actually make time to do it.
My favourite place is by water. I am lucky enough to live on the coast with beaches and the sea all around me. Sitting listening to the waves rolling on the sand or across pebbles is so soothing and relaxing. Even with life so hectic right now, I can make time on my way home to park where I can watch and listen to the sea, even if only for five or ten minutes. Sometimes, that’s all that’s needed.
Even on days when the weather is not so gentle, the sound of crashing waves can still take us away from all earthly worries to something entirely different. Watching the force of Nature can remind us there is something far greater and bigger than us at work. All we need to do is allow ourselves to be taken to a place of peace, blending with our surroundings, to be part of and within Nature
Whatever the reason for you doing this, it will help immensely. It may take a few times to learn how to let yourself relax totally. You may feel guilty for taking time for yourself, but the more you do it the less you’ll feel guilty realising you deserve it and need it. We all do.
Please, if you’ve never done it before, try to take time to do it even once and see how it makes you feel. Life is so noisy, hectic and rushed these days with escalating aggression, badness and sadness seen everywhere we look. Life is hard more so than ever before making it all the more important we try to help ourselves. We can do this by finding a quiet place where we can unwind, ground ourselves and find peace within.
One can sit totally at peace with a still mind, or ask questions of life that puzzle or upset us. It’s amazing how before taking time to sit in the quiet, problems or people we thought impossible to accept or push to one side and handle, can be made to feel far less important, far less problematical than we believed them to be.
Not all can be changed in our lives, but our attitudes and how we handle it can be. Life is hard, but we can survive whatever it throws at us no matter how hard it gets if only we can remember to take time to be kind to ourselves even if no one else is kind to us. Remember, it is not a guilty pleasure to take time for oneself, it is a necessity for helping us heal and stay healthy.
