Last year, on May 24, 2024 I used Insight Timer and I saw a posting. It simplified the concept between Praying and Meditating. Let me know what your connection to these thoughts bring out in you. 💬
Folks who pray ask for the answer, while those who mediate listen for the answer.
Occasionally, I come across gems in my favorite problem area. [[How can I meditate before acting]]. In particular, I would like to explore how I can [[Schedule time to mediate to keep the balance]].
To find balance, I must create a schedule to help me slow down and reflect on my thoughts. My goal is to meditate in the morning and evening. Similarly, the [[45-minute Meditation is required to reach my mind peacefully]]. I can mitigate the negative thoughts that affect me. I can meditate to slow them down for the evening to feel better for a moment. For example, when I eat mindfully, it takes the mind 20 minutes to register that I’m full or done eating. Likewise, it takes the mind 20 minutes to calm down to receive the wisdom.
Sometimes, patience comes in many forms. [[To wake up the whole body, I need to feel pain across the body]]. Ignoring the pain and allowing myself to listen and continue to note will give me wisdom. The practice will allow me to see what is in my mind. Then, I can answer more and be more attentive to the information around me.
However, I will be lost if I play games, work past 10:30 p.m., or am distracted. Of such caliber, [[My morning routine got interrupted because I saw a notification for Pokémon Go]]. My phone sent me a promo code for Pokémon Go. I felt inspired and curious to see what the notification would reward me. Later on, I reflected on the event and had many thoughts. I spent too much time on the app. I can’t have it installed. Too addictive. My morning routine got interrupted because I saw a notification for Pokémon Go; I decided to give it another go. I spent 2 hours on it and finally decided to delete it cos it was too much work. I went on YouTube and found a video on deciding which Pokémon to keep; the YouTuber, Poke Daxi, suggested using a search query for PVP. I’m sharing it cos I found it helpful in sorting through junk Pokémon.
0-1attack&3-4defense&3-4hp
Also, he suggested another search query for raid ranks.
`4attack&3*`
Meanwhile, I’m excited about using the star ⭐ in the game! It will be so much fun preparing for labeling and transferring my Pokémon. I can’t wait to free up space and organize my Pokémon collection!
In his video, he recommended going to a rank checker to decide which Pokémon are worth keeping. However, after 2 hours, I decided to give up because there was lots of competition, and I preferred to spend my time growing spiritually.
Ultimately, I learned that I need to use my time wisely. In the future, I figured I would share my experience in writing so that, hopefully, others don’t fall into the endless trap of rewards.
During a CoDA meeting, somebody mentioned a quote to the group. [[Like Hugging a Red Balloon Experience life and let go]]. I was still waiting for an answer when I asked the group about its origins. However, my gut feeling told me it has roots in experiencing life inside of overthinking.
The red balloon is similar to using the healing code. The author, Alexander Lloyd, asks the listeners a vital question. What would I do with the remaining minutes if I had a short life?
I asked, “Why am I afraid of experiencing life?”
Right off the bat, A memory of a friend popped into my mind. I don’t have to experience everything, but it played out through the mind. However, I need to keep my thoughts balanced cos I can overthink.
For example, skiing is a frill-like kissing experience.
I like to try many things, such as fresh mountain air, peacefulness, views, and travel while staying in a cabin. More so, skiing is a technique, an exciting challenge with the combinations of many benefits. Meanwhile, following my interests and experiencing life can either bring suffering or overthinking to its knees. When suffering is processed, I can focus on happiness.
Moreover, the experience can lead to the desire to prevent holding on to anything. I can continue to have these thoughts in my mind, but it would be great if I stumbled upon something exciting. Something so great that it will push me to continue to seek instead of think. One way I can seek this freedom is through peaceful meditation. I am going to my inner being and seeing what my mind has been up to.
Returning to [[Recognizing Distortions In My Thinking]], continuing to overthink my experiences can lead to suffering. While working with my therapist, she shared a unique chart that has given me the ability to catch and question my experience. The chart has five columns: emotions, situation, thoughts, re-framing, and conclusion. It’s vital to question self-worth here. Knowing that [[I Am Worth it]] and justifying my worth [[Because I Exist]]. My day is at the max, and thoughts push me to think I am insufficient. Therefore, I need to keep an eye on the ultimate balance, a slice between what is real and present and what is a thought. Spending too much time with thoughts will take me away from the present moment and create much suffering in my system.
Below, I’m sharing my cognitive distortions tool with you. Feel free to use it any way you wish. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments below. If you enjoyed the passage above, let me know via like comment, or both. 😊
| Emotions | Situation | Thoughts | Reframe The Thoughts | Conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rate Intensity 2,3,4,6 | Where were you? What was going on? | What went through your mind? Proof for and against? | Identify the distortion for each thought. | Have any of your preconceptions may have influenced thoughts |
| a | a | a | a | a |
Welcome to meaningful connection, where I share February’s resonating ideas, thoughts, and realizations.
I’m making progress with journaling and keeping an eye on my life. Meanwhile, I’m working primarily on Acts SharePoint. During work hours, I found myself in drama with a coworker and me. Then I visited the dentist to find out I was doing an excellent job with my teeth minus the grinding.
Meanwhile, I started stepping back on hosting every weekend. I then managed to hang out at the Marsh with a friend. Then I learned about the green veggies and cheese benefits from kidney stones.
During February, I had many personal achievements. I was starting with the ability to defer my frustration with a coworker while successfully pausing to pray for guidance so I could seek happiness from within. Further, I tried to understand the pricing for hospitality on care.com and picked out a few candidates. Another coworker surprised me and said he noticed many positive changes due to my new keto lifestyle. It made me feel good because proving through my actions is the best way to a living success. Finally, I could draw a card for grandpa with limited time on his birthday.
More importantly, my career growth had a few exciting twists and turns. In the jQuery world, I quickly completed promises and synced ajax calls despite others saying it would take too long. While things got dicey at times, I would pause to allow some input from our team and reserve speaking. That allowed me to understand the problem and eventually come to a solution. Finally, I always prepare notes at work for the coming days. That allowed me to improve my knowledge transfer to my boss progressively.
During February, I chose something that I rated above four and now is in my life. Because of such quality, I decided how to use the healing code. The idea is to adjust the negative or positive energies surrounding me. I heal by using truth statements as affirmations to target my flaws or obstacles that prevent me from limiting beliefs that hold me from my potential. The process takes around 15 mins, and the target is a single issue at a time. I will use different hand positions during the event and read a statement about what appears true. The goal is to create reflection and unearth the hidden gem that could move me to a new level of understanding. Below is an example of a true statement that I like to use:
Perhaps I Am Lovable Just the Way That I Am
What is yours?
For February, I will choose something that is sprouting and needs to be elaborated upon further. The spout that comes to mind is grounding meditation because it’s a document I improve every Wed and Saturday at the Art Meetup. Now and then, when I perform the meditation, I add or remove lines that open our hearts to drawing out our inspiration. Moreover, I like to reflect on the ropes because of the deep inspiration. For example, “what’s heavy on our soul as we come back” speaks of my long day at work or the pain of not accomplishing my goal of owning property in Manhattan. That thought is essential, and I will not give it less priority. However, I must draw and find a way to use that negative energy and channel it through my breath. Moreso, I always have a choice to reflect and find happiness.
Throughout February, I had many thoughts different from the objective Zettelkasten notes. While writing the mental nourishment section, I realized I could use my thought notes as a placeholder for status, which would help me choose letters from my thought area. The thought that comes to mind is a question.
What is the difference between trust and being comfortable with somebody? I won’t use the names for anonymity, and here comes the context. In my mind, I feel comfortable when the other person doesn’t expect happiness from me. If I get a happy feeling from the person and they push me to be better in a way that I feel I’m ready for, then I build comfort. Trust is like someone lying to me and using me for other agendas. Comfort me opening up at a reasonable rate, and another person is okay with it. I remember feeling fear because I tend to push people away when I say something wrong. Also, I can apologize and try to understand through reflection.
What did I learn? Both words are different, and comfort is a higher-level word. Thus, I can only be comfortable once I trust the other person. Therefore relationships require more time to develop.
Moving near the end, I like to grab a summary of the month or some obstacles I faced. For February, I cooked every weekend. First, I needed to revisit my blessing, so I find balance. My most vital lesson is the feeling of frustration Moving between tasks too quickly, and not finding a chance to go inward. I noticed I got burned a lot because I’m either not paying attention to my body or over-invest in my work. My goal for next month is to focus on internal happiness and not on others around me. Therefore, I must continue healing code and going to bed early.
More or less, I struggled with keeping myself in balance and giving myself an actual deadline with so many gaps in knowledge to complete the NFT drawings. Next time I’ll overcome it by planning to draw days and how I can finish something simple. Instead, I could do an abstract piece to build my confidence and succeed with my balance.
Well, that’s the month of February. I added a new menu called Give and Coach, so feel free to look around and share what’s on your soul.
