Succeed Becoming Mindfully Aware

by Payal Talwar

So, yet another day – and yet another day of going through routine everyday stuff. Sometimes, the day has exciting stuff lined up and we find ourselves looking forward to each event with the anticipation of a small child at a circus – And then some days have us dragging our feet and selves through, till the time we can hit our beds – sighing with relief that it’s over!

But if we take a sweeping look at our week, how do our days look? Do we jump out of the bed in the morning, eager to start the exciting journey that that day has in store for us? Or do we roll over, hoping and hoping again that something would happen and the day would be over? Does the thought of what our day looks like fill us up with energy to go through it or does the mere sound of the alarm clock in the morning have us groaning?

And then, how do we go through the day? As the day passes, is our mood still upbeat or are we sinking by the time afternoon comes knocking? Or are we dismal through the day?

When I was asked this by my coach – I could broadly answer. My day starts pretty well – I’m quite excited to face the generally full day that I have. But how I felt through the day was a mystery to me. I went from task to task – pausing only to take a break or look at what was left. There are times when I catch up with a friend or take time out for something I enjoy – but I was quite unaware of the emotions I experienced through the day.

My coach asked me to track my feelings and emotions through the day – as in actually pause after every couple of hours and write a word or a sentence for what I’m feeling at that time. I was bewildered – what would that accomplish? All I got was a smile and I decided to go with it.

It was a week of acute awareness. Just tracking my feelings made me realise which parts of the day sapped my energy AND which tasks felt cumbersome. I could pinpoint the work that was unproductive and left me feeling useless. I got a sense of people too – who all enriched my life and who all were mere passer-bys.

The first day took some reminding myself – to actually pause and notice how I felt. At the end of the day, the clarity I got propelled this action the next day. I was keen and eager to discover more of what I felt about the events and people who filled my day.

By the end of the week, I could clearly see where I needed to step in and make changes. It was as if an alarm would go off every time I felt devalued, useless or unproductive! The acuteness of this awareness brought about another awareness – that it was time, I took the reins in my hand. Like my coach says – ‘if it bothers you, it’s time to do something about it!’

Now that I was mindful of my day, I was also conscious that the same could be done in so many other spheres of my life – my energy levels for example. I could track my relationships too.

I smiled –when one throws light on one area of life, the adjacent ones come into focus too! We can call it a miracle of illumination or our consciousness – whichever it may be – it sure works miraculously!