ALEXSHZRD

Quarantine. I never thought I’d be in it, and I never thought it would be so positive. Yet, I see so many people viewing this as a negative thing for them personally. Yes, this is a difficult time and people are sadly dying from the Coronavirus, but try not to focus on the negative and use this time wisely with wholesome activities that will make you better overall. I touched on these ideas of time and positivity in my last volume, but I wanted to expand on them.

I myself am still working on unlocking the full potential of my time. Now, what do I mean by full potential? The people who are absolute masters at their craft have spent a ton of time doing the same thing over and over and over and over again. Consistency over a long period of time bringing one success. Those at the top consistently use their time in a focused and direct way.

For positivity, I believe that you can choose to view any situation either positively or negatively. That choice will bring you vastly different outcomes depending on what view you choose to take. There are some people who struggle with clinical depression who aren’t always able to choose, but most of the time you can choose whether you look at a situation in a positive light or a negative light.
Life is generally easier when you choose the positive view the majority of the time.
However, I do deeply believe in balance, and that a balanced life is the key to true happiness if you approach it with the right mindset. You have to realize that life cannot be all just great and completely copacetic all the time. There are times when things will go wrong and times that you may feel like your life is falling apart.
You have to realize that the struggles and hard times are sort of a preparation for the good parts of life. The grind and the process and journey, the struggle, you should capture and revel in it. To quote one of my favorite movies, Jarhead: “Embrace the suck.” If you learn to embrace the difficult parts of your life (The Suck), it will allow you to view them more positively and in a way that is less debilitating to you mentally.

I struggle with positivity myself, mainly when I get too caught up in whatever is happening and allowing my mind to start spinning. What I do to help regain control is mindfulness and meditation practices. I enjoy meditation, and I mainly practice two different types.

The first is when I am trying to ground myself and work on focus. I will simply breathe deeply, and focus entirely on my breath. Acting as if nothing exists except the presence of my breath. In. Out. In. Out. Simplifying my thoughts and allowing myself to relax.

My second version of meditation is to simply let my thoughts flow. This one is more difficult, but try to simply let your mind wander and think about or ponder whatever you want. This is a combination of two different examples from others (@Headspace & @Naval) that I try to keep in mind. You simply view your thoughts as if they are cars speeding down the highway, while you are standing on the side of the road simply just observing. You let each thought pass by over and over again until there are no longer any other thoughts to have, a point where you’ve already pondered everything and are therefore free to be relaxed. I am far off from this kind of peace of mind, but it is a goal for the future.

Here’s to putting in the work now to come out of this quarantine a better person!