It’s been a few days. Yeah, only a few days since I started talking to my parents over video call in the mornings. Actually, early mornings. And usually, I am waking them up through this early morning video call, to which they respond very sweetly.
Their smile, sometimes their laughter, and a bit of “good morning and have a nice day talk” between us sets a very healthy, loving, and peaceful tone for the fresh new day to unfold and bless us.
I didn’t plan or think of doing any such thing before. And today I think, why didn’t I? Because it is so amazing and so full of love. You know, I feel it is a priceless blessing of life to have and live moments like these.
Just imagine for a second that you are living with your partner in another state, and maybe now you won’t live with your parents like before, never again, but you are blessed enough to talk to them every day and see them every single day virtually (thanks, Internet!). It is a priceless blessing. I feel it honestly. And now that I am almost 30 and married, I feel it even more.
Sometimes, happiness is so simple yet so priceless. Yeah, the classic happiness thing! Simple and priceless!
My friend, talk to your parents often. If possible, then every day. And if you can, then even twice a day!
Since the arrival of spring this new year, I have started doing one thing, and it is helping me a lot internally in showing up every day. And that thing is “getting ready for the day”. Nothing fancy or fashionista type. Just getting ready.
So, what I have started doing is as soon as I wake up, within 2-3 hours, depending on the exercise duration and assistance in house cleaning and cooking, I get ready.
I bathe, do my haircare and skincare, put on my clean and colourful clothes according to my mood, wear a few pieces of jewellery, and apply my favourite shade of nude lipstick and a small bindi on my forehead. It goes well with my Indian/ethnic attire, which I am frequently wearing these days.
After getting properly ready for the day ahead, I usually express my gratitude to the universe for having my back and always helping and loving me unconditionally.
This morning thing of getting ready intentionally and thanking the universe for all the blessings in my life kind of just shifts the whole body language and energy inside me. My mind gets the message that now I am ready for the day, and I will sit and work in my study for a good few hours. It helps in carrying on on the days when I feel I can’t do much. Even reading a few pages of a book on such days counts as something done. Getting ready helps me in achieving those small things with a relatively better state of mind.
I have started getting ready for myself. For my work. For my growth. For the future me. I show up for my future self. It helps me in taking small steps every day in the right direction.
I didn’t know that getting ready intentionally, and thanking generally, when done intentionally, can be really effective. For me, it is working quite well. Especially in terms of energy that I feel inside. It is definitely a lot healthier and more positive as compared to the days when I used to wake up late and start reading or watching podcasts in my pyjamas. The effect on mood is real.
And I am happy that I started this at the right time. Spring, I think, is the best time for us as well to gain momentum and really change the things we need to change. It works.
What about you? Have you started doing anything that has changed your approach towards your day and work in particular? I would love to know any such stories. Please share them in the comments below.
I am not the person who likes to clean every nook and corner, and room, and hall of the home every day like it’s Diwali, but I am certainly a kind of person who prefers a cleaner and more organized space when it comes to everyday life.
I have a younger sister who usually handles the household cleaning and laundry on weekends, like it’s Diwali on Monday. She spends hours and hours cleaning the clutter, organizing the shelves, and cleaning each section of the home.
She says cleaning is therapeutic to her. Fine. It can be. But are our weekends only meant for this? I one hundred percent disagree. Weekends, holidays, leave days, off days, and break days are mostly for us to get back to ourselves. If you know what I mean!
Sure, we have to make sure that the house is clean, the wardrobe is organized, the study area is well set up, the fridge is fully stocked, and our kitchen and bathroom have all the essential supplies. But, we can’t make it a habit to look after the housekeeping stuff, our primary job on those days.
I have asked her to at least get a part-time househelp for everyday basic cleaning so she can be a bit more relaxed and chill on weekends. It will give her much relief. But her satisfaction, according to her, which she gets only by cleaning the house herself, will be compromised then.
I hope she understands that her life holds a lot more beautiful, exciting, and meaningful things to do and derive satisfaction from, rather than dusting, brooming, and mopping the floor like it’s going to become the white marble one day.
Now that I have a househelp, I know how much relieved I am with each waking day. I can comfortably wake up naturally when I have had enough sleep without worrying about the dirty dishes in the sink we left last night. Di comes and does the dishes, brooming, dusting, and mopping within an hour of the whole house while we, Abhi and I, can focus on morning exercises, getting ready for the day ahead on time, early morning reading, and cooking our meals for the day together.
When you have a relatively bigger house with large spaces and a few spare rooms, it becomes sometimes difficult to do it all alone. And delegating a few things saves your time and a lot more energy for the rest of the work you want to excel in.
Having said that, yes, I have a househelp now, but I am also the person who makes sure that cleanliness stays throughout the day, and the things that belong to a particular space should be kept to that particular place only after use. And this is a very important thing when it comes to cleanliness in general. For me, this is very important.
Books on the shelf, clothes in the cupboard, shoes in the shoe racks, laptop on the desk, extra things in the storage room, and stuff like that.
Recently, I came back to our apartment after a good eight months in Delhi, and my hubby is 99 percent opposite to me….okay, let’s say 90 percent opposite to me in this particular thing. When I live with him, he behaves a good 80-90 in this stuff, but when he is alone…..I can’t say anything!
So, we took a good few 5-6 days, once a week preferably, and did the proper arranging, rearranging, organizing, and reorganizing of our whole space together. It was a lot more hectic, confusing, and irritating initially, but now I can feel and soak in the calm and beauty I feel inside here. And thanks to my househelp di, our everyday cleaning stuff is taken care of very well.
Cleaning your study area and arranging your books in order, setting up your desk space with all the gadgets you need, folding and arranging your clothes properly in your wardrobe, organizing kitchen stuff in categories and boxes, rearranging your bedroom with a few changes here and there – it all gives a certain sense of order, calmness, positivity, and high vibes in general. And your soul can feel it. That’s why cleaning the physical clutter around you is so important for feeling healthier, calmer, and clearer in the space you call home.
So yeah, tidying up works for me. And I know it works for many as well. What about you? Does it really help, or does it make things unnecessarily complicated for you? Share your thoughts. I would love to know about your side of the story.
It truly is. Imagine you wake up naturally, without an alarm, after a deep restorative sleep at night, and feel very fresh and excited to get up and start your day on a healthy note. Isn’t it a blessing?
For me, it surely is. And especially now, when I have started to listen to my body and understand my rhythm and energy throughout the day, I have started seeing the immediate results of proper sleep, proper rest time, and waking up feeling fresh and healthy towards the day ahead.
It’s like you are starting your day with your happy hormones, right? Isn’t that cool? For me, a hundred percent.
Honestly, I am kind of developing a lot of love and respect for early to bed and early to rise thing. And when you actually live it, you get to know what all you actually miss while scrolling social media and Netflixing all night. I have done that. And I do these things still now and then. But the time, energy, and intention behind those things have changed, or I can say are changing. And for me, it’s a healthy and positive thing.
The feeling of having a proper, good night, restful, and happy sleep without any interruptions, and waking up naturally after a few good hours of rest is pure gold. And this is one of the foundations of our health and longevity, which we don’t take seriously enough.
Sure, life happens. You fall sick. You are not in a good physical and mental state, relatively, and sleep gets affected. No doubt about it. But, we have the power to start, restart, again start, and restart again and again to sleep early, take proper rest for our body and mind rejuvenation, and wake up not because of an alarm, but your internal body alarm, every day.
I hope you have a good sleep, a very good rest time, and a very beautiful, calm, quiet, and soft mornings ahead.
Srishti Kumari 