This is something quite personal that I'd like to share. I wrote this a couple of days ago.
This is advice for me today:
Count your blessings when you're feeling sorry for yourself. Look at what you have, not at what you don't have. True happiness comes from being content and more importantly, being content with what you have already.
As I did my yoga this morning, I recognised there's a lot going on in my life right now. There's a lot of things calling out for my attention and thought. The nature of these things are unlike what I had to face at the start and during my travels. Most of the things on my mind then were good - nothing I had to deeply ponder about. My situation was pretty ideal. I was finally off on my dream and living it. There were no adversities surrounding it. Life had somehow worked it all out in the most ideal way possible.
While I was travelling, I realised I was truly happy. Not only was I travelling, I actually got to a state that I could only dream of before - waking up each day happy and loving what I was doing. Sure at times I was tired and maybe a little grumpy too, but I was constantly reminded how blessed I was to be doing what I was doing. This gave me energy to go out and do it all. And when I really didn't have the energy, I never fretted because I was already happy where I was.
Travelling made me realise the seemingly impossible can be achieved if you set your heart out for it and rearrange your priorities. As a side effect, it gave me confidence in myself and brought out a new light and energy in me. I was really being me, and not trying to be anyone else. I loved it. I loved being that authentic for others and especially for myself.
But now, I feel like I'm lacking that spirit I had gained from travelling. I'm lacking that sense of self and love for self. I realised this is something I've lacked in the past growing into adulthood. Today, I actually understood that loving yourself is so key to attracting and establishing happy relationships as it is to leading a happy life. Happy people always start being happy from the beginning - with themselves.
I don't think you need ideal circumstances to lead a happy life. You gain a happy life by making it that way. I was blessed to be travelling and living my dream, but that's not to say it came easy. I worked for it and took risks for it before setting off. Even while travelling, I lived on a budget, not always staying at the best, eating at the bests or doing the best things to do. What I realised though was that the best is subjective and that you needn't have all these things, to make your trip or day memorable. Your attitude towards it was more important.
Maybe this is the most important thing I should be wishing for myself each time - To be completely happy in love with myself, my situation and my life... to count my blessings each day and to just be or do.
