Tag: optimism

  • You can’t wish away your struggle

    You can’t wish away your struggle

    Wishing it’s a sunny day when it’s raining is not going to make the sun come out.

    Therefore, leaving your umbrella behind is an act of foolishness, not optimism.

    A positive mindset can often lead us into delusional states.

    When our overbearing sense of deliberate positivity doesn’t produce results, it crushes our spirit even more than before we started.

    Keep it real.

    Positivity is about focusing on opportunities, not about wishing away reality.

    Whispering to the universe, if not followed by real and decisive action, will remain nothing more than a whisper.

    Positivity doesn’t only attract positivity, it also attracts the negative ones who are in need of positivity.

    If you don’t recognise this, you’ll struggle to reconcile why your efforts at being positive still yield negative results.

    You attract what others need, not what you are.

    If nothing else, let that be the grounding point for your sanity.

  • Choose your moment

    Choose your moment

    We all have a touch of insanity that threatens to overwhelm us at times.

    Instead of competing to be heard above the noise of the madness around you, your sanity may be better served by finding peace in being able to choose your madness.

    When we lose sight of what is important because we’re focused on being heard, we lose ourselves to the effort of competing with the struggles of others.

    If everyone focuses on wanting to have their struggles honoured, who will find time to rise above it?

    We’re human. By design, we are emotional beings.

    But we must recognise that our emotions make us aware of how we are experiencing something, while our intellect enables our response to it.

    When we honour our emotions above all else, we deny ourselves the opportunity to learn from the experience so that we may rise above it.

    We must find balance in everything, even in our emotional expression, or else we risk losing ourselves to the very thing we claim to define our space in this world.

    Choose your moments.

    Choose your battles.

    Choose your audience.

    Not every moment is yours to claim.

    Not every battle needs to be fought.

    Not every audience is committed to hearing your story, or honouring your struggle.

    Photo credit : Adobe Stock

  • Own your life

    Own your life

    Note to self: When you allow yourself to be defined by the scepticism of others, you impose their limitations on yourself.

    Recognising that all mental and emotional limitations are self-imposed is critical to growth.

    These limitations are revealed in how we believe we are compelled to respond to someone or some experience.

    It is revealed in how we believe in our ability to do the extraordinary, while our support structure, or our tribe convinces us that we’re supposed to focus on responsibility only.

    It is revealed when we look for validation and approval for our aspirations or ambitions, before we commit ourselves wholeheartedly towards its pursuit.

    The greatness that exists in all of us is often snuffed out by our need to be accepted before we pursuit that which will set us apart.

    Whose permission are you waiting for before you unleash your passion, or pursue your dream?

    Tomorrow is not guaranteed, but death bed regrets are…if you don’t live a life that duly honours the struggles of your life.

    Own your life. Before someone else does.

    Photo credit : Adobe Stock

  • Misery is the thief of time

    Misery is the thief of time

    Anything that requires a concerted effort is exhausting…like being miserable or morbid…it demands that we suppress any inclination to find joy or happiness in simple things.

    Can anyone guess why we would do this? 🤔

    Joy is what we give up when we hold on to misery.

    Don’t become so distracted by how you were betrayed or abused by others that you grow fixated on wanting to see them get their own back while putting your own joy on hold.

    Remember that it took a specific event to make you feel miserable, but up to that point joy came naturally.

    This means that our natural state is one of joyfulness, and it also means that we have to put in a lot of effort to prevent ourselves from experiencing joy.

    That’s why misery and depression is so exhausting.

    It’s not just a lack of motivation, it is an energy thief.

    Invest your life in moments that uplift others and yourself, not in waiting for revenge or karma to come around.

    P. S. At the time of originally posting this in 2019, I was thinking of making the title for my book The Book of Mindfulness. But I eventually decided on Own Your Shit. You can order your copy today from my website at zaidismail.com or on Amazon and Kindle.

  • Know your worth

    Know your worth

    How many of us spend our lives trying to convince turkeys that they’re eagles, and in the process, sabotage our own growth and happiness?

    To quote another piece of old school wisdom, birds of a feather flock together.

    If you don’t know your own nature, you will associate with those who are not aligned with your goals or your passion in life.

    That’s the easiest way to embrace mediocrity while yearning for greatness.

    Of course, the downside to that is that if you’re surrounded by turkeys, and you claim your space, you may find yourself embracing loneliness and isolation.

    The conundrum of life.

    I pray that you are born into a home, a family, or at least a community that shares your passion and inspires your growth.

    Photo credit : Adobe Stock

  • Seize the moment…not the day

    Seize the moment…not the day

    Tomorrow is not just another day.

    Tomorrow is simply today again, only with less time than we had yesterday.

    If you’re not focused on what you need to achieve today, you’ll always be trying to finish what you should’ve done yesterday.

    That’s how procrastination and misplaced optimism wastes away a good life.

    By all means, pace yourself so that you don’t burn out.

    But don’t become complacent in the process.

    Don’t wait for inspiration to strike.

    Inspiration most often hits you in the process of creating something amazing, not in the moments of over thinking what needs to be created.

    Show up.

    Get started.

    Seize the day.

    Tomorrow is never guaranteed.

    Procrastination doesn’t only steal time, it also steals your dreams.

    Embracing your passion in the absence of validation can be quite a powerful source of self-doubt.

    Believe in yourself, otherwise how can you expect others to believe in what you’re creating?

  • Live, and let die…

    Live, and let die…

    Sometimes, our setbacks in life can feel as if our world is coming to an end.

    In many ways, it does spell the end of a lifetime for us because we reach points where everything that we know to be true comes under question.

    Major life events like health issues that compromise our quality of life, divorce, death, or even losing a job all carry with it an impact that could easily derail all our hopes and dreams for the future.

    Choosing to hold on to the hurt, or the pain, or the sense of loss from such experiences doesn’t change the reality that it brought with it.

    Instead, holding on denies us the opportunity to grow from such experiences, and to continue to build that life that we set out to achieve.

    But what is there to learn from bad experiences?

    More than the lessons that it taught us about the shortcomings in decisions that we may have made, it is only in the presence of pain that the depth of joy can be appreciated.

    It is only through loss that we learn to appreciate what can be lost when we have it.

    When we experience loss or tragedy, or even disappointment and betrayal at the hands of others where we have no control over the outcomes despite our best efforts, we must recognise that it is a moment of grounding that will reshape what we take from life from that moment forward.

    If we’re not aware of the good that we can take, we will remain invested in the bitterness of the experience as we convince ourselves that remembering is the only way to protect ourselves from feeling such pain ever again.

    No. Remembering beyond the lesson learnt doesn’t protect us from such pain in future, it simply holds on to the pain of the past and denies us a future without it.

    Embrace the good, learn from the bad, and appreciate the present.

    Photo credit : Adobe Stock

  • If tomorrow never comes…

    If tomorrow never comes…

    So often I hear people speak of tomorrow not being guaranteed, but still packing away that dinner set for just a special occasion.

    We delay making changes that we know we need to make to improve the quality of our life, or of the lives of those around us, because we think we have time.

    We look at inspirational memes that speak of valuing and appreciating loved ones while they’re here, but avoid reaching out to them, or inviting them into our spaces because we are not ready for it yet.

    Worse than all this, we hold within us the pain of past wounds, refusing to let go, because we convince ourselves that a single moment of hurt is what defines or contaminates every moment with someone thereafter.

    That’s how we deny healing.

    That’s how we defer life.

    That’s how we suffocate our dreams.

    And it’s all because of fearing the possibility of experiencing such pain or rejection, or failure again.

    So we protect ourselves from being vulnerable, while denying ourselves the love of life itself.

    The reality of death only sets in when death stares at us without blinking.

    Until that moment, we convince ourselves that we have time to start that important project tomorrow, or next week, or when we get leave from work, or maybe when we retire.

    Each time assuming that we’re guaranteed to reach those moments when we think things will be just right for us to finally make that change or to take that step.

    When time runs out, it runs out without warning, because it reminded us that we were losing life each time we celebrated another occasion but neglected the moments between those occasions.

    Stop taking your life for granted and begin today what you’ve been putting off for so many yesterdays.

    Tomorrow is not guaranteed.

    Photo credit : Adobe Stock