When you get back home from a 5 nights cruise, your body still feels like it’s there. The ground is shaky, you lose your orientation, but it was a well-deserved holiday after years of work. If you've ever needed a holiday, now’s the time to go do so.
Nas.
Taking a break is so important for mental health. If you can't afford a holiday, enjoy some solitude somewhere near.
Now on to this week's 5 ideas and thoughts.
Self-reflection is often looked upon as unmanly but it is indeed the most valuable skill we can obtain. It's important to reflect on ourselves because it helps us improve ourselves and make better choices in life. It's a way to identify what's working and what's not and make changes to be the best version of ourselves. Plus, it can help us feel more in control and on top of things.
I’ve been watching Dwayne from Dry Creek Wranger School for some time and I felt with what he talked about in this video, especially with his voice and the way records his videos, just raw, still, and unedited. A bit of Not-so-mainstream advice on how to deal with loneliness is to be comfortable with having yourself as a companion. Play the video and listen.
Journalling is beneficial for the soul but not everyone is cut out for it. I struck a conversation with a new connection on Linkedin about life. When I asked him about journalling, he said,
I do much too reflecting in my line of work, don't have the headspace to do that in my personal time.
So what do you do if you don’t journal? Well, the key component of journalling is to express your thoughts and there are other alternative ways to express them. This can be through meditation, art, music like drawing or dancing, or songwriting. Well, I believe it can be any activity + a bit of reflection.
I think if you can combine being alone for 5 minutes a day and think about 3 things that you’re grateful for, that would be ideal enough.
Or you can on Spotify and sing your heart out in the shower and then later look at your song choices and reflect on that. Here are some other not-so-mainstream ways to reflect.
Create a vision board and paste your goals and dreams and reflect on what it means for you.
Social media detox. Try to not use social media for a specific period of time and ask How does it make you feel?
Take a walk and pay attention to your surroundings and your thoughts. (I personally love this)
Out on the cruise ship in international waters, we didn’t have good reception, and on some nights, the waves were rough. We did however have good food, entertainment, and lots of activities planned out. I learned the value of being at peace with what I already have. Sometimes we take things for granted. Having good food, comfort, shelter, and someone who looks beyond our shoulder to ensure everything goes according to plan. They battle our fight handling most of the load and making important decisions so that we don't have to.
After all this, I think it’s crucial to talk about speaking out. I want you to speak out. Speak out for yourself. It’s going to be hard. I know. All this time, you were told to man up by sucking it up, but not anymore.
It’s time to normalize speaking out and not sucking it up, and it may or may not help with your situation but it’s better than nothing. Download the Substack app and drop me a chat. Also, I’m doing a reach out to all my subscribers every week to check-in. Drop me a message.
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Till next time!