The Art Of Being Alone

There are a lot of wishes that are buried in your heart. Things that you always wanted to try but you never get the time for. Any specific hobby or skill that you wanted to adopt but you never had ‘free time’ except you always had an abundance of time to scroll through social media or watch Netflix on loop. You just didn’t have the time to DO what your heart carved.

As children, we were so excited to try new things or play new games without worrying about’ perfection’ or productivity. But as we started becoming an adult, a load of responsibility, the burden of becoming successful, and the need to prove our worth eliminated every single joy from our lives. Some hobbies used to set our hearts on fire which today are not a part of our lives. There were picnic spots that we used to feel excited about but today we sit on our sofa all day just to complain we have nowhere to go. How did that happen?

Perhaps, as kids, we were fine with exploring the little joys of life. Kids find a way to entertain themselves. That’s why they are happiest at almost all times. They know how to make themselves happy. However, adults are mostly sad. Because we expect others to come and entertain us. And when no one comes, we end up feeling lonely.

If | ask you, what its the one thing you do every day to make yourself happy, what would you say?

Hard to answer. | know, | have been there as well. It’s easier to expect the world to be our cheerleader. But it’s hard to look in the mirror and question what we do for ourselves. No wonder, we feel lonely.

But hey, | am not your mom so it’s not my job to yell at you.

| understand that being an adult is not easy. It’s just a lot. You have to take care of everything all at once whilst taking care of yourself too. But the thing is, it doesn't matter how hard you try, how much you work, and how overworked you feel at the end of the day. What matters is do you even do one single task in your day that makes you feel satisfied? We don't feel exhausted because we try too hard. We feel exhausted because we do too little of what truly makes us happy. So perhaps, if you do even just ONE thing intentionally that makes you feel connected to yourself, to your inner child then life will start feeling like a joy. We must have at least one thing in our day-to-day life that we are excited about, something to look forward to. Joy wouldn't come looking for you. It's you who has to find it and if you cannot find then CREATE the sources of joy in your life. There is a lot

that you will have to do to survive, and to get ahead in life. Make sure you do something every day so joy doesn't leave behind. Make your life joyful, not just bearable on the mercy of weekends.

And | know it’s easier said than done but enough of making excuses for not trying something you always wanted to. Your inner self has been waiting forever for you to catch up on life and start doing things that matter to you. You have waited enough for others and the world to bring joy to your life, now it’s your turn to intentionally create a joyful life. Not a happy life. But a joyful life. Happiness is a cheap thing. Joy makes life rich. And the good thing is, you can always find at least one source of joy in your life if you look for it intentionally.

But why am | using the word intentionally repetitively?

Because it’s easier to slip back to your default setting and blame the world for everything that goes wrong in your life. But when you take the responsibility in your hands, and look for something to fill your day with JOY with complete awareness, you will find that almost everything turns into fun when you do it with full self-awareness. It could be as Small as the smell of your morning tea, the rays of sunshine
kissing your cheeks, or the way some stranger looked at you. It’s in

the small moments that you can find joy hidden for you to find it. Play with it. Joy is hidden playing hide-n-seek with you. It’s your task to find it somewhere deep inside your heart.

To give you an example from my life, | always hated my hometown because it’s too small. My city is so small that it doesn’t have anything that | enjoy. We don’t have any park (God, | love nature but duh..), no library (1 am a book lover), no bookstore, and absolutely no art galleries. But if | had waited for these things to improve, | still would have been waiting. So instead of playing the blame game or victimizing my character, | choose to create sources of joy with what | already had. | started taking evening walks in the narrow streets of my city. | don’t expect much from my evening walks. | just expect to take a pause. A break from a world where everyone is rushing to win the race of life. These evening walks allow me to renew my perception and look at my own city with awe. Pay attention to things that were invisible to my eyes before. Find a little piece of history in some of the old houses and their mysterious doors. Look at the same faces doing the same monotonous things but notice something that may surprise me. That’s the reason | chose talking walks in the evening. | wanted to look at people and observe them for a split second before | wandered into my mind. | wanted to become a part of someone’s life secretly. To this day, my evening walks are something | look forward to, whether | am in my hometown or somewhere else. This is what keeps me_ excited throughout the day, especially in the afternoon when | feel tired and sleepy. | feel excited to take a pause and see something that | never paid attention to. It’s so small and probably insignificant to most but it matters to me. It helps me to unwind and take a break from worldly pressure.
And | strongly suggest you try to find joy in little things. Maybe drink your morning coffee while listening to your favorite music and without rushing the entire process. Maybe cook your food with a candle and romantic songs to accompany you.

Your heart already knows where joy lies for you. Follow your heart’s guidance and let it lead you to create a joyful day-to-day life.

The point is either you find joy or the worry finds you.