Alexa play 'Smile (Living My Best Life) ft. Snoop Dogg x Lil Duval'
Whew chile, the spiritual hypocrisy... We're talking about it, you guessed it.. MEDITATION. Everyone is out living their best lives or at least striving too, and as a therapist I'm elated. As a black woman I'm skeptically optimistic. Oh Lawd Here She Go.. Are people really living out their best lives? Or are they 'Puttin' on for the Gram' ? Well here's how I weed out the difference between the two. So we're going to break this blog post into a list of pro's and con's, or in other words, a list explaining why I'm optimistic and another list explaining why ya girl is giving some of you a raised eyebrow as to if one is truly living their 'Best Life'. So here's the (self-healing) tea...
For My Folks With High Hopes
Having Fun is Good for the Soul
Travel Inspires Growth (In General They're Trying to Expand Their Minds')
Having Friends & Family are a Blessing, Period.
& Those Who Call It Like They See It
"Different Strokes, for Different Folks" (Thank God for Diversity)
Some of Ya'll Know Better...
I can hear my mother's voice, "Worry About Yourself!"
... for the secret to living your best life is becoming so enthralled in your own personal, spiritual, and emotional life journey that you stop giving a damn what anybody else thinks... about every damn. thing.
So, all of this and what about meditation? Meditation is the journey you begin with yourself in order to manifest all of your true hearts' desire, i.e. the 'magic' practice to start really loving, living, and laughing throughout this life long journey. My father and I, as I went through school talked, and still talk, a lot about life and life experience. My father acknowledges the medical benefits and spiritual growth meditation inspires.. but doesn't meditate. You know how I feel about that.. refer back to...."& Those Who Call It Like They See It,"...
Reason #2- Some of Ya'll Know Better .
In those conversations held between my father and me, the overarching themes were often psychology, personality, and pattern. Many people hold patterns of thought which by definition are beliefs. These patterns of thought do not all the time help us in any way and often times confuse us into harms way. In psychology and in the mental health field we call those, Cognitive Distortions. Everything isn't for everybody, however when you know better and for some reason come up with reasons as to why you don't do better- fyi YOU ARE YOUR OWN ISSUE. Even if it's new, if it is healthy and makes you feel good, try it, and then try it for at least six weeks before you give up on it (it's the given length of time for some medications to kick in, so give the same energy to a new skill or hobby). Reason #2 gets a side eye because you want to live your best life more often than not, not just long enough for you to take a good selfie before you start mismanaging your stress and having you second guess if you're even really living your best life or not.... hint: you are if you feel like you are.
Let's refer back to the top.
Having Fun Is Good For The Soul
Reason #1 for the Positive Side! It kind of goes without saying when you are having fun, you feel better. Feeling better always feels better than feeling worse, duh. It's been proven though that laughter, and more specifically children's laughter accelerates healing time for the body in pretty much anything that you may need to be healed from. So, if you are having fun, laughing, and enjoying life...well you my friend are living your best life!
"Different Strokes for Different Folks"
And then there's always that feeling of you're missing something, that secret ingredient that everyone seems to be made with or at least knows where the nearest store to get some is at... it's because everyone is different. We all ought to be grateful that we are all different too.
Imagine, because everyone likes exactly what you like, likes the same places you like to go to, has the same favorite meals you like... at the very least every time you pull up to your favorite drive thru you'd probably have a hard time ordering cause I'd assume they'd always be 'out' or the machine would always be 'down,' because of its high usage.
I hope that was a good enough example for you to understand, that not everybody wants to do what you want to do and that has to be okay, and the more you think about it, it's great! Which leads me to Worry About Yourself. Other people have spent some time or have lucked up on what makes them smile and laugh. So, when you see them on Instagram or Facebook and you feel some type of way it's because you haven't found your 'thing,' and yes everyone has a 'thing,' and if you've found it, you sure aren't minding it. You know what I mean. Mind your own business. If you know what makes you happy, stop complaining or finding excuses and go live your best life, just make sure you take a selfie so you can post it for the 'gram. #Ifyoudontpostdoesitcount?
Travel Inspires Growth (In General They're Trying to Expand Their Minds')
Traveling tends to expand the mind. You are able to experience different cultures or a different way of doing things. You meet different families. You see different places. Your mind consequently expands. Sometimes traveling or activities done while traveling can become personal lifestyle changes. I have a friend who loves to go hiking. Wherever she goes she make a point to research a good park where she can pull out her boots and go for a hike. People who see value in experiencing something different tend to also practice other healthy habits such as exercising, eating healthier, and overall mind/body awareness (that was another plug for meditation.) To add, often times 'living your best life' comes after much personal and spiritual growth.
Though nobody talks about the searching, the asking questions, the mental breakdowns, the violent outbursts or manic rants and I assure you, nobody is taking a selfie when their having a panic attack, walking the streets in the middle of the night.
I said that all to say, if you are willing to grow, meditation helps make the process a smooth one. I tell my patients all the time, it's just 'practice.' No matter what it is, life is 'practice.' Anyway, I'm saying all this to say.. to ask... how did you feel about meditation before reading this article? How do you feel now, after reading? Will you give meditation a try? Why not practice something that is sure fire way to 'Living Your Best Life'
Having Friends & Family are a Blessing, Period.
Lastly well... it just wouldn't be fun if you could not do some of things with family and friends on your side. Take a moment, call,
txt, dm someone that you appreciate and love them... so here's a few moments from my family and friends Living Our Best Lives...