Mind Matters 🙏🏽 (#003)

Hello friends, 👋🏽

Welcome to another edition of Mind Over Matter.

This week, I would like to discuss the importance of being alone and why it's so crucial for your personal and spiritual growth.

I know it can be a daunting proposition for some, but it can provide you with a key to unlock many wonders within yourself.

I've been thinking about my upcoming blog and I wanted to touch on something that's essential to the self-growth process.

It's a concept that invokes mixed emotions. Humans are social creatures after all. We are meant to socialise, build relationships and connect with other people in order to sustain our well-being. For many of us, life is about experiencing happiness wherever we can find it. And that happiness is usually experienced while among other people.

We become used to talking to friends, colleagues, partners and family every day. Our lives are filled with conversations and commentary. Most of our spare moments come from being with others or planning to be with others. Whether it's a gathering, a party, an event or a fun night in. Connecting with others plays a big part in our lives. However, when it comes to personal development and spirituality, there's a key detail that people overlook.

Self-growth is a personal process.

Even though you may practice religion, mindfulness or spirituality as part of a group, the process of self-mastery is one that can only be done by you alone. (Hence, the 'self' part).

In fact, being alone is a critical aspect of your mindful journey. If it's something that you have resisted in the past, then you should consider taking small steps to spend a little more time with yourself. Even if it's only a few minutes to reflect on the day ahead or the day that's just passed.

You will only come to know and understand yourself better through alone time. How can you begin to study your emotions, your thought process, your state of mind and your capacity for growth if you don't dedicate time to spend with yourself? When you're with others or are being distracted or entertained, you may subconsciously be avoiding time with yourself. If you keep engaging in this practice, you will keep repeating cycles of pain in your life that you just can't seem to conquer.

I get it. Being alone with your thoughts may seem boring on one end and may even be a traumatic experience on the other end of the spectrum. However, the benefits of learning to be with yourself far outweigh the downsides.

By learning how to be alone, you will begin to create some space between who you think you are and who you really are. Often, our self-perception is rooted in how others think of us. Being alone will eliminate many distractions and provide you with the opportunity to think deeply about yourself. We can't think in great depth for any significant amount of time when we're surrounded around by others or are occupied by our everyday tasks.

The mind requires solitude in order to create the optimum conditions to realise the many truths that you can only experience through silence. It requires still waters to sail furthest. That is why meditation is such a powerful tool for self-discovery. It requires solitude and silence and gifts us with calmness, serenity and clarity.

So don't be afraid of some time alone. Use it as an opportunity to have a conversation with yourself. Practice meditation. Reflect and ask yourself some simple questions and spend a little time thinking about them. Not sure what to ask? Here are some suggestions:

• Am I happy and if not, why?
• What is holding me back right now?
• What am I doing that I know isn't good for me?
• What do I want out of my life?
• What could I do differently?

It doesn't mean you have to cut yourself off from the world and everyone in it. However, if you don't spend any time in solitude with yourself, then your self-growth will always hit a wall that you won't be able to pass beyond.

Embrace being alone. Even in short spells. The rewards can be life-changing.

For more on this topic, watch out for my upcoming blog coming soon.

I wish you all a fulfilled week of promise and opportunity ahead.

Remember that whatever trials you are enduring right now, the storm will pass and the waters will become calm once again. Do the best you can to keep your ship steady and don't lose sight of all that you have yet to become and achieve.

Take some time out for yourself, create a little distance from whatever is worrying you and learn something new about yourself that you didn't notice over all of the background noise playing in your mind.

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Until next time, friends. 👋🏽

Namaste 🙏🏽