Good morning friends
I came across this thought provoking quote a few days ago: ‘So often we are depressed by what remains to be done and forget to be thankful for all that has been done.’
How true this is, especially for perfectionists and obsessive people!
And this can happen on a daily basis, especially at night before sleeping, when we take a stock of the whole day. Some of us tend to remember the unfinished jobs and start cursing ourselves for being lazy. But we don’t acknowledge the work that we did well during the day, we forget about the successful completion of many tasks that needed hard work. In short, we focus on our deficiencies but take for granted our efficiency!
Actually, when we talk about reflections, it should be about both our strengths and our weaknesses. Unfortunately, most of us focus on our deficiencies rather than our successes. The major problem with this approach occurs if we are following this pattern every night. If we sleep with these negative thoughts about ourselves in our mind, during our sleep, this negativity can penetrate into our subconscious and when this pattern is repeated often, it can affect our self esteem and confidence. We may start thinking of ourselves as failures if we keep harbouring such thoughts regularly. The negative thoughts act as a seed and slowly, a poisonous tree, which is harmful to us, starts thriving in our minds.
BK Shivani didi talks a lot about watching our thoughts at night and advises that the last thing we do before going to sleep should be the regular practice of positive thoughts and positive affirmations. ( Osho too, has given a meditation called the ‘Affirmation meditation’. ) When we practise these positive Affirmations on a daily basis, we can sow the seeds of a wonderful tree that blossoms and nourishes us. If we are sincere about following this practice regularly, then our productivity, our capacity to work, our stamina, our self esteem and confidence can all grow stronger.
I have been following a daily night practice given to us by our spiritual leader. In this practice, before going to bed, you are asked to look at yourself in the mirror, give yourself a big smile and congratulate yourself on completing the tasks that you attended to throughout the day.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you ignore your faults or failures. It just means that especially at night, the focus should be on your achievements. ( In case you become aware of some unfinished tasks, you can motivate yourself to do even better the next day. )
I hope all of us can start this wonderful nightly practice,
Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar
