There is a monster inside of us, inside of me, inside of you. A monster who talks loudly and rudely. A monster who is not your friend but your enemy. Neither a nice word will come out from its mouth because it hates you. It appears when you should feel happy due to your accomplishments, and its voice is so loud that it makes you believe that it’s YOU. Be aware, because your true self would never be so nasty with itself.
Do you know those moments when you should be happy because you’ve realized that you’ve reached your goals? Those moments that should have been made to enjoy, alone or with friends, and celebrate the beautiful things life has gifted you. Well, it’s especially in those moments when it appears. Of course, this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t appear at other times, but it means that the last thing in the world it can handle is your happiness, so it needs to stop you every time joy reaches you.
I know that monster very well because it visits me often (And it behaves like a stalker!).
Especially in the last days of the year, when I’m supposed to make a review of everything I’ve done, it whispers slowly a detailed list of everything I wasn’t able to do.
Well, if you have also recognized your inner monster let me tell you something: it’s a liar pretending to be you because you are so distracted to understand that that voice doesn’t belong to you.
What Can We Do to Counteract the Monster (and avoid it from ruining our most precious moments)?
Well, the very first thing I recommend to you is to go into the woods alone. Stay there, feeling the wind in your face, the birds singing, and the smell of the humid ground. Stay there, watching the colors of the season, admiring the mushroom’s ability, and discovering new plants and herbs you have never seen before (or maybe you have, but you did not care about).
Find a place (or let the place find you) and sit on the ground. Let the force of nature get into your veins and give you the wisdom and the strength to win against the monster without fighting.
How’s that? You don’t need to pay attention to the monster (what it actually wants) but you need to pay attention to yourself.
Remember all the beautiful things you have done in your life, all the gifts that life has given you since you were born. People that love you and are always there to help because you are unique. People that you helped, those whose lives you have changed. People you advised to solve a problem and people that you still don’t know but are coming into your life.
So Simple...
After that, think and reflect about it, and write it down on a piece of paper. I understand that sometimes writing can be hard and boring, but remember: we need to jog ourselves to defeat the monster because it never rests (so neither do we).
Then, write a list with almost 10 things that you like about yourself. Ten positive things, things that you or other people admire. And again, maybe it could be hard. But it’s just because you are not accustomed to it.
In this way, every time the monster comes up, you will have a weapon: the weapon of consciousness, because you will be conscious of the beautiful things you have in your life and the beautiful person you are.
Sounds so simple? Yes, it sounds because it is!
The fact is that we are always looking for complicated solutions and new ridiculous techniques that will “save us” when the reality is that everything we need is inside us, waiting to be discovered.
Just try simple things. You have nothing to lose.
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