there are days, weeks, months, or years..
where it just seems like it is not our day, week, month, or year
the past couple of months have not been the easiest for me
but in all honesty, standing where I am now
looking back with a bit more perspective
I've realized they weren't particularly hard either
it was all in my head
in times like these..
when I get a little too far down
the bottomless black pit of a rabbit hole that is my mind
and forget about the world around me
or about being present
it's important to remind myself that
"the primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it"
perspective alone can determine..
how we choose to make sense of the world around us
we can't control what life throws at us
but we can control how we react to life's occurrences
taking a step back every once in a while
and looking at our lives and our realities a little differently
is one of the simplest and most powerful ways..
to recharge our batteries, recalibrate, and refocus on the road ahead
the first thing I like to ask myself is: where are you?
on the surface this is a pretty silly question
but bear with me for a second
so I ask myself where am I mentally and where am I physically
mentally is a little harder because you do have to do some mental gymnastics
to figure out where exactly you are
and not to be stuck somewhere in the future or somewhere in the past
so to ask myself where I am physically is actually the easiest way for me..
to reground myself and for me to be present
just by asking myself where exactly am I right now
am I in Japan like this b-roll
or am I at home in my apartment standing on wooden floors
observing my surroundings
there's a roof over my head
I can drink water from the tap water if I want to
I just.. there's flowing water
with all of this, it's just taking a look around me
soaking in all that's around me
and making note of the details of my surroundings
things that I would normally just glaze over
you know when you're just not present..
you don't focus on the things around you at all
no matter if you're inside or outside
or home or abroad or anywhere
while you're looking around..
make a mental inventory of everything that you see around you
make a mental inventory of everything that you possess
or it can be making a mental note that..
wow ~ it's so great that I get to see with my eyes
and that my eyes work and that my body works
and that I'm breathing
and that everything is working the way it should
one thought that keeps me grounded
in the most turbulent and stressful of times
is to remind myself that..
a lot of people would actually leap at the opportunity
to live out our worst-case scenarios
when being grateful for what we have
and when being appreciative of what we have..
gets shifted into expecting things
and expecting an outcome for the things that we're doing
and for the work that we're putting in..
that's actually where most discomfort, pain, and suffering comes from
I love this quote from Seneca
"True happiness is to enjoy the present.."
"..without anxious dependence on the future.."
and I'd say the past as well
another question I like asking myself is: do you have to do this?
because no.. you don't have to do anything
we get to do what we want to do
and I think this was one of the most liberating thoughts and realizations I came to that..
no, I don't have to wake up every morning
I don't have to wake up early in the morning
I get to wake up
and I get to wake up early in the morning
so that I get to have time to do the things I want to do
and to have and enjoy some quiet peaceful me-time
instead of rushing to work, rushing to wake up..
rushing through the rest of the day
and when I was in school..
no, I don't have to go to school
I get to go to school
and I get to learn as much as I allow myself to learn
I don't have to work
I get to work
and I have the choice to choose the work that I want to do
or at least work towards some sort of goal of what my dream job..
or dream life would look like
so again..
we are so lucky to be able to have choices.. to dream
to turn dreams into reality
we really are our own biggest obstacle
our minds
we think we're not good enough
we think all these things
we think we can't do it but in reality
if you really believe in yourself
if you believe the universe has your back
we don't have to do anything in life
we get to do everything in life
we get to experience life
and it's such a blessing that when I'm talking about now
I'm like duhhh ~
but when you're not in a good place you're just like..
why do I have to do all that I'm doing?
why am I even doing everything?
where is this all going?
anyway.. moving on
this is something that I started asking myself recently
do I really need more in my life?
it's the whole adding versus subtracting
instead of what can I add into my world to make my life better
the question that I start asking myself is
is there something that I can remove from my world to make things better
it's kind of like KonMari-ing your life
and removing all things that doesn't spark and bring joy into your life
for me it's..
it's pretty painful in terms of trying to look inward
and figure out what I can let go of
I'm only one person
I can only do so much with YouTube.. with Beauty Within
with all the things that I'm doing
so how can I let other people in to help me
instead of being a perfectionist
and wanting to do everything on my own
how can I allow help from other people
so that I can focus on what is most important
so removing all of the distractions
removing..
not even distractions but just removing things that..
may be taking more time than it should
and just really focusing on the things that matter the most
and of course we can talk about stuff and things
we don't need more stuff and things
those are all desires and those are all wants
they're not needs
I've talked about this before
we don't actually need much in our lives..
to be happy, to sustain, to live, and to just be
I ask myself when I'm really stressed or when I'm really overwhelmed
will any of this matter when you're 80 years old?
when you're sitting on a rocking chair
overlooking the beautiful ocean if you love the ocean
looking over the mountain top and over the woods
if you love the woods
if you love being in a cave of you know.. whatever..
wherever you want to be.. anywhere you are
if you're on the moon.. anywhere
will this matter when you're 80?
and the answer is probably no
like if I'm being really honest with myself..
99.9% of the things that I'm worrying about right now
and that's stressing me out probably won't matter
so it's like..
if you're not gonna worry about it then then why worry about it now
instead of spending time worrying..
think about solutions
or think about ways that I can move around that
or figure out ways to move beyond that
in a very graceful manner
is this a mountain, or is this a pebble?
I'm paraphrasing the founder of Falun Dafa my spiritual practice
with this analogy is that when we look at a problem
and see it as a mountain
then it's going to seem impossible
for us to overcome that problem or that issue or that situation
but if we instead were able to look at this mountain
and scale it down to a little pebble
than it'll be so easy for us to just take a step over it
so this is so helpful whenever I'm going through rough times
or when I'm stressing or when I'm feeling overwhelmed
to remind myself that anything that is initially started as a mountain
or anything that I see as a mountain in my head or my horizon..
I could..
my mind has the power to shrink it down to the size of a pebble
but you know it requires if I want to
do I have the perspective
do I have the willpower
do I want to because you know..
sometimes you just want to cry in front of a mountain
and you just are there for a bit
but you know..
the ability we all possess to turn a mountain into a pebble
do you really believe the universe has your back?
when I came to this realization
it actually put me in tears because I realized..
what I'm going through really isn't anything
compared to what I'm about to say so..
human suffering.. our own suffering
we as humans suffer
because it is what it means to be human
and the sooner we can accept this and embrace this as a part of our lives
and as something that can help us improve and do better
and to embrace instead of push away
and treat it more as like a positive versus a more negative thing
the easier our lives will be
and this is because we are responsible for our own lives
so we are responsible for our suffering
so if you believe in a creator
if you believe in the universe
if you believe in a higher being
a higher power that is in control of everything
if you believe in God
imagine the suffering that..
this being is bearing for humankind.. for humanity, right?
like because the creator is responsible for all lives
so the creator is responsible for bearing the suffering for everything
like all lives here on earth
or maybe even the universe
and when I came to this realization
it just made me see that..
my problems really aren't that big of problems
that if I can minimize my problems
and exist in a state of being more present and more grateful
instead of being stressed and overwhelmed and not okay all the time
then it will be less of a burden to this higher being that I believe exists
this was probably the most helpful and impactful thing
that I came to the realization of
and regardless if you're spiritual
I think at the end of the day..
realizing that if we can take control of our own lives
and be less of a burden to society
and be less of a burden to those around us.. to the world
and instead be a more proactive member of society
and making it a better place
and making our existence of significance
of helping others.. of giving back
that's a very very beautiful thing
because I think it takes a lot to come to that realization
and you could come to it many times and you can forget like me
and then you come back to again and you forget and you come back to again
so with all of that
thank you guys so much for joining me
this is.. I don't..
I honestly don't know what form this video is gonna take
as I'm recording the voiceover
but I hope it's great and I hope you guys love it
and I'll see you guys in the next video
sending you so much love <3
voice hugs for days and I missed you guys
it's good to be back
baiii ~
ma
my love for you is long like the bamboos
ahh~
so how tall is it?
very tall ~~
yayy ~