In pursuit of loving the process (Part I)

Since life has much to teach to everyone, it's inevitable that the more you learn from it, the more you realize that you’re always some steps away from actually knowing it. You’re always aiming and teetering. Harsh but true, you’re not getting anything at the end. It’s the journey that matters the most and you’ve got to learn to enjoy it. But here’s the hardship, enjoying the journey is an intricate art unless looked at the right way.

I’ve been learning it for a while and I’d love to share what’s been learned so far. Everything I’ve learned came out of experiences (which I certainly lack), observations & books.

The Right Way

We’ve heard it countless times, Love the process, which is in fact true, yet easier said than done. Loving the process is an art hard to master but anything that’s promising at the end tends to be hard, isn’t it?

Learning To Love The Process

Since nothing auspicious comes easy, the art isn’t learned without some ground beliefs & habits, which you consistently need to follow & master. Some of the consistent things, which turned out to be quite beneficial to me, are listed below.

Paradoxical Intention

The mind is a tricky muscle, it tends to do the opposite of what’s intended. Paradoxical Intention works on this very nature of mind. If you’ve ever had experienced a bit of anxiety, you know it gets worse when you try to stop it or run away from it. So what’s the solution? You don’t run from it, instead, you face it. So how do you face it?

By intentionally trying to make the anxiety worse which in turn makes the anxiety less severe. So whenever you can’t resist emotions, try to do the opposite. It actually works.

Note:- I’m guessing you already want more insights, if so, do follow the link.

Managing Thoughts

Thoughts are as tricky as the mind and there’s no way you could stop your mind from wandering. But here’s what you can do, you can learn to manage thoughts. So how can you manage your thoughts? It's very simple, label those thoughts. I’m too afraid that the article is gonna be extremely obnoxious if I intend on writing about labeling thoughts. (which I will someday).

Note:- Since it’s not as easy as I’ve made it look, you can follow the link.

Faking Emotions Doesn’t Work

My parents usually tell me to express the feelings, accept the feelings as they are, which are in fact what meditation tells you to do (precisely the latter one). I’ve misunderstood meditation for a very long time, you might have as well. But one of the forms of meditation tells you to be honest with feelings and analyze those feelings as an observer. This act of acceptance simply makes your life a bit easier. What you shouldn’t be doing is, driving your action based on those emotions.

Perfection Is A Trap

Let me break you something I’ve figured out about the way life works. You’re never settling down, you’re always aiming to find something that’s perfect, which indeed doesn’t exist. For instance, you’re always trying to find a perfect job for you, which you’ll never. You’re always looking for a perfect company to work in, which again isn’t practical. Perfect doesn’t exist and ‘Nothing is Perfect’ is in fact true. I tend to live with this very principle, whether it be starting something out or finding something.

I never find myself much of a writer, yet I write. I’m afraid if I seek perfection, I’ll never start.

This is the start of the journey I intend on sharing with people and there's more to come…