Mental Freedom? I have heard this phrase many times and think to myself "What if I could just forget about all the stresses, "what if's" and "Should I have done that"? But in the moment I convince myself that: stress is a part of life, "what if's" are part of the natural psyche and "I should have done that" is actually a part of finding new ways of learning from our mistakes, failures and successes, right?
I once heard a phrase "I am not what I think I am, I am not what you think I am, I am what I think you think I am" shared by distinguised motivational speaker Jay Shetty, and this literally was an Aha! moment for me.... Simply meaning as he had explained is that we all live in a perception of a perception of ourselves. Our identities are what others think we should be or even what we can achieve and that in it self can become a major barrier in reaching ones potential. Anxiety, stress, and the fears of the unknown really does burn a lot of the light and joy within us out. Through my ongoing journey of self-discovery, breaking down cultural barriers, understanding family dynamics, love, relationships, marriage and all above else WHO AM I?
I began to realize mental and physical freedom became the driving motivation in working through dark times, which we all face. I have learnt that courage doesn't resemble itself in just physical accomplishments but mental freedom too. Many people have guided and helped me through challenging periods of my life, and each of them have provided me with the tools to plough through any kind of situation, for which I am truly grateful and thankful. Talking about our fears and vulnerabilities shows great courage and liberates one self. As most of us fear judgment and criticism, which then begins to crank up the negative clock, we forget about the positive actions that we have achieved. It's like human beings say we spend countless hours focusing on negative thoughts and celebrate the achievements only for a short period of time. Mental health was once a topic not discussed fairly and openly and I too myself took it for granted for a long period of time. Mental freedom for me is to be able to say I have failed, ok where can I improve, what was the lesson learnt and how can I achieve even 1% of success in the future as growth for everyone is not the same. Being able to express emotions is key to releasing. We all learn at our own respective paces and that is something that I am practising and learning everyday.
The brain doesn't come with a manual or a how to guide. So let's not be so hard and judgmental of ourselves. Give yourself a break, laugh at your self, cry with your self, do what makes you happy (for me that's participating in sports, reading a book, colouring, playing video games, watching movies) which then in turn starts to bring light and love within you which then pours out to those also around you, creating a space of clear energy to flow.
In signing off, I leave you with a phrase which has stuck with me from as far as i can remember "BE BRAVE and HAVE A RAVE" that's me Kishen Morar aka Bhudda.