1. You are rich if you have shelter, food and love in your life
We all aspire to have material items. In this society, it's impossible to not get dragged into having materialistic desires and goals. I get it. However, removing myself from the bubble of everyday life gave me perspective on how those things are just things. You get a rush when you buy it - your dopamine LOVES to spend your money. Yet we don't get giddy buying a loaf of bread. I'm telling you if that loaf of bread was the only thing you could afford, you would be happy dancing all the way to the toaster. Don't take for granted the essentials. Everything else is simply a luxury.
2. You cannot attach yourself to money because it was never yours to keep
I just lost £200 because I broke my hire car (oops). Actually, the metal lying in the road broke my hire car - shit happens. In fact, I lost aloooooot of money this year. I accumulated 11 parking tickets over a 6 month period and I was so attached to my money I couldn't bare to pay any of them. I let it build until I was left with over £800 worth of tickets. Why didn't I just pay for parking? If I am being honest, it was a mixture of forgetting (ADHD tax at its finest) and thinking 'fuck that, I don't want to spend £3 today!'. I've paid for the fines and I am left with a lot less than if I'd just detached a lil bit. Money always comes and then it goes. On this earth, if you are not one of the 698 million people suffering in poverty* you are rich. Obsessing over your money or anyone else's is a waste of your short life.
3. Being alone gives you power
It gives you the power to create a home within yourself. No matter who comes and goes, you will never lose what is already yours. You just have to access it. Be alone. Allow your thoughts to flow and see what you find. In your journal, write down what seems significant to you and reflect. You'll start to grow from the inside and understand you have some of the best times on your own. You can choose to give yourself what you desire from others i.e love, acceptance, acknowledgement, consistency and respect. If someone brings you down with their actions, or more likely lack of actions, give yourself what they did not give. If someone is dishonest, give yourself the respect and remain truthful to yourself: don't gaslight yourself with lies to keep someone around. When you meet your own needs, you have the power to attract people who will meet those exact needs. I won't delve too deeply into this because I only realised I had this power when I actually took myself to a place of absolute solitude. You'll see what I mean.
4. Culture influences so much of our anxieties and behaviours
Whilst us brits are working our way to an early death with the unholy hours of work, in comparison to the mere 48 hours we get as a "break", the Spanish are enjoying an afternoon siesta. Don't get me wrong, the Spanish work hard. However, I realised how culture can shift what society praises, versus what we deem unacceptable. As a Gen Z baby I feel the pressure of societies expectations every. damn. day. I was never someone who knew they wanted to be a surgeon from 3 years old and stuck to it. Pretty sure I wanted to be a race car driver, which is pretty sick but that has changed at least 4689365 times. My point is, our generation and those after us have the opportunity to reshape what society expects (if anything?). Try to do what makes YOU feel fulfilled. What does success look like to YOU? Where is my perception of success skewed by the egotistical and material views of society?
5. Underneath our buildings, roads and infrastructure is a beautiful planet
I always get sucked into the blackhole of life. My head goes into autopilot and I feel like I can't actually see. You know when you drive somewhere and you don't remember how you got there? Yep that is when I know I am in waaaay too deep. I am thinking, thinking and more thinking until I cannot fucking think any longer. That's when I know its time to physically remove myself from the thinking pit - this involves taking your body to a place of nature.
"I can't just catch a flight every time I get feels" I hear you exclaim, and i agree. If that was what I was suggesting I would just move to Spain (not a bad idea?). What I am suggesting is going anywhere that is not plagued by humans - it is just the earth and its natural state. My favourite is the beach because, as a Pisces baby, the water is my friend and my mind stills as if by magic. Find your place. Sometimes to stop your mind, you have to stop your body first.
I hope you gained a lil perspective from this. Are you doing what makes you happy (as in you do this thing and you don't want to do anything else, ever)? Or are you doing what you think will make your future self happy? Do you believe once you have the perfect body or a whole new wardrobe, you'll be happy? Or can you upgrade your beliefs and actions to reflect what you feel your best self doing?
All my love, Fi x
*Source: Development Initiatives, 2021*
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