Saturday, December 3, 2022
When you are at your best, you feel the most alive, the most loving, and the most creative. How can you be your best, daily? You have to set yourself up, reconstruct the environments and routines that allow you to reinvigorate. I forget what I need, sometimes. I need the right space. I need the right routines to help me return to gratitude and peace, when life gets busy. I need quiet. I need time for vigorous exercise. I need to be in nature. I need intelligence, lectures and positive words. I sometimes need to hear beautiful music, or to have company. Only you know what brings about your best energy, your best ideas, and your best self. The key is to pay attention to those times and places when you are at peak. Then find ways to return to them. It’s all about association, and paying attention to when you’re at your best. You have to associate certain activities and environments with putting your best foot forward, and train yourself to go there.
It’s often small things that can help: A simple candle in a dark room to remind you of the fire of life; a clean, organized work space to remind you of clarity and productivity; a pause to give thanks before a meal to remind you of the space of gratitude; or a special place of your own, a safe-haven, a sanctuary. Return often to your spaces and practices that bring out your best.
People and life can drain you, but find those renewing “happy places” for fuel – your daily bread. Pay attention to when you are at your best. Recreate those practices, come back to those spaces that remind you of your source; recreate the conditions as a reminder. Set the mood, routinely return to your reminders, and let your best self come through everyday.