Archivi delle categorie:Life

9 Reasons to Practise Mindfulness

Today we speak a lot about Mindfulness. Do we really know what it is and why it is useful?

Let’s start with a small definition. Mindfulness is a mental training that makes you aware of your actions and bring focus on what you are doing in the present moment. It is a concept taken from Buddhism but it has lost the religious component and it is not limited to meditation, though meditation is part of Mindfulness.

Today’s life is sometime difficult and often very busy. We find ourselves more and more exhausted and breathless. Our mind is forced to focus on several tasks at the same time (the so called multitasking), at the expenses of our mental and physical well-being.

Practising Mindfulness helps us for sure with finding a bit of quietness and copying with events’ life differently, both in the work environment and at personal level. Mindfulness helps us with finding our own human and spiritual intimacy.

Practising regularly Mindfulness has a positive effect on stress and anxiety and it also helps us in developing useful mental skills that build capacity for:

  1. Focus
  2. Mental Clarity and Agility
  3. Collaboration
  4. Creativity and Innovation
  5. Emotional Intelligence
  6. Empathy and Compassion
  7. Resilience
  8. Happiness
  9. Overall Well-Being.

Try a simple exercise: eat slowly a fruit, trying to taste it fully, to understand the consistency and find out the feelings it gives you. If you eat like that once a day, you will be on the good path for being mindful!

A Lesson from a Horse

Somewhere in the countryside of a country of this world, there was a farmer who owned a very beautiful and strong horse. One day, one worker reported to him that his beloved horse, that had also a great value, fell into an abandoned well.

The worker was very sorry for that bad accident, because he knew that the well was very deep and not accessible. He called some other workers but they could not get the animal out, despite all possible efforts.

The farmer went to see the horse in the well and realised that there was nothing left to do, in spite of the fact that the horse was not injured.

He thought it was not worth saving the horse, the needed efforts would have costed more money and time than buying another one.

So the farmer decided to let the horse in the well and ordered his workers to cover the poor animal with earth, so to bury it. Then he left to go on with his business.

The workers started to throw earth in the well, according to the farmer’s orders. To their surprise, each time they shoveled earth, the horse shook the body and the earth fell to the ground under its legs. The horse walked over it while the well was filling up with earth.

A couple of hours later, the horse had its head out of the well and after some more shovels it jumped out happily.

Although sometimes it seems that some people want only to throw earth on you to make you collapse or desist, you have the same intelligence and willpower to go forward, just like the horse.

When someone tries to discredit you, shake yourself, walk above the earth and come out of that imaginary well. Stop and think why this is happening. Think about the good things of your life. Free yourself from those who want to leave you at the bottom of the well. Act like the horse!

Summer Quotation (4)

In your life there are people that you can let go, that you can take the risk of loosing because they bring you mainly negativity.

On the other hand, there are people in your life that you cannot let go, as they bring you love, respect, well-being and support. They are the light of your life. Don’t let them go!

Summer Holidays Are Approaching

We are in a very nice period of the year: summer holidays are approaching. Summer has been in the air for a few months now and in a few days I will be leaving for Sardinia with my husband and our son, who, even if he is almost 19, still appreciates coming on holiday with us.
We will go on vacation in a beautiful village in the Gulf of Asinara, Lu Bagnu. Sea view apartment from two terraces. Not only sea view, the sea can also be felt and heard by opening the window, so close it is. Beautiful sunsets accompanied by an aperitif in an idyllic setting. Not by chance they call it Sunsets Bay.

What will I do on vacation? I want to get up in the morning calmly, have breakfast with my husband, get ready to go to the beach to take our long morning walks, which are so good to me. The feeling of my feet on the sand is priceless, it makes me feel good when I put my feet on a soft silky ground, which at that time of the morning is warm. It is an energizing contact that puts me in a good mood.

Then go home to pick up our son, who likes sleeping long, and take the car to find a new beach to explore. Lie down in the sun, take a swim in the sea, get dry with the warm sea breeze. Read the books by Guillaume Musso that I have downloaded on the e-reader, practise meditation, listen to music. Eat grilled fish, a good pizza, a special pasta dish. Take a walk in the town centre, eat an ice cream, buy some souvenirs that will brighten the dark winter days.

This is how my summer holidays look like. What about yours? Share it with me!

How Do You Define Success?

One of my followers pointed me out that in my post “Stay Away From Crabs = Stay Away From Negative People” I refer to success, without explaining what I mean. This could lead to misunderstandings and may make some readers feel uncomfortable.

Most of us actually think that success is having a lot of money, a beautiful car, a big house in a prestigious area, a super gourgeous, nice and rich partner. Usually successful people are also famous, they can be actors, great sportsmen or business people.

We take these ideas from the various media, television in the first place. Advertisements and programs make us see unreal worlds and at the same time they make us want all those things that we think they would change our lives and transform us into successful people.

I think that success is about fulfilling your dreams and living according to your values.

From this point of view, I consider myself a successful person. I have accomplished so many things (and many I still want to accomplish) that I wanted to do since I was a teenager and that match with my values. For example, building up a family: I got married and I’m still married after almost 25 years, I have a son; getting a meaningful job: I contribute to the construction of an increasingly united Europe; knowing different cultures: I traveled a lot, I still want to travel a lot, I studied a lot and I still want to study a lot to learn and better understand the world and their people.

I am not famous but all the things I have done led me to live a pleasant, fun and serene life. Obviously I have my ups and downs and my difficulties like everyone else. But this does not change my idea of ​​being a successful person. I did the things I believed in and still believe in. I went ahead despite the difficulties. This is another meaning of success: the ability to keep going, always, despite everything. And this is also resilience. Think of children when they learn to walk. They fall and get up, again and again but for sure they do not think they will never be able to walk because they have fallen so many times! They keep on going, falling and getting up because the final goal is so important. Maybe sometimes they get hurt and cry, but they don’t give up, they want to learn to walk. And when they succeed, here’s their success!

What is your dream? What are your values? What would you give up to achieve your dream? What would you never give up instead? What fills up your life? What does make sense to you? Let me know!

Unexpected Things in Life

Every morning at 7, a turkey sees the farmer approaching to feed him. The first mornings it is a bit scared but then it gains confidence until the Thanksgiving day comes…and the turkey is ready for the oven!

This is a cognitive bias or, rather, a bias of induction, that is, a false belief caused by a well-established habit. When you think that something will happen in a certain way because you are used to it, then you believe that that same thing will always happen like that and you don’t think it may change.

Until when it was discovered that black swans existed in Australia, in Europe we used to believe that only white swans existed.

This type of bias has caused (and will continue to cause) a lot of problems to people, including financial ones (think at economical crisis, for instance).

Turkeys and swans remind us that it is better not to take anything for granted as unexpected things in life happen!

The Lazy Dog

One day, after a long walk with his owner, a dog lay down on the floor to rest.

One of his master’s friend passed by to pay a visit and they started to chat. The dog from time to time made some noises and the friend asked the master if the dog was fine. The master answered not to worry about the dog, everything was fine with him.

They continued to talk but the dog did not stop complaining. The friend asked again if the dog was really okay. The master replied that the dog was fine, he was just lazy. Actually, the dog was trying to sleep but he was lying down on a nail. The dog was so lazy to be ready to sleep on a nail, even though it was very uncomfortable for him.

What lesson can you get from this little story?

Let me know!