5x1: self-esteem, critical thinking, and brushing your teeth
Plus some reverb. Lots of reverb.
Hey there. Welcome to 5x1 – 5 quick things to get you feeling yourself and the present moment. (Or just singing real loud. That’s good too.)
1. A thought: you build self-esteem bit by bit
Self esteem is built – and not just something you have or don’t have. And there are six parts you can work on: living consciously, self-acceptance, self-responsibility, self-assertiveness, living with purpose, and personal integrity.
Read more: The six parts of self-esteem (and how to build them).
2. A quote: you can’t reason your way through feelings
I’ve been reading The Mindful Way Through Depression and this jumped out at me. I’m a chronic “intellectualise my feelings” guy (see: this whole publication) and this digs into why that’s not helpful.
Imagine a car trip during which, every time we check to see how close we are to our destination, we find that the car has instantly moved farther away from it. This is tantamount to what happens in the interior world of emotions and feeling states when we call in the doing mode of mind.
That’s why we often find ourselves saying things like “I don’t know why I feel so depressed; I’ve got nothing to be depressed about,” and then discovering that we feel even more unhappy.
We’ve checked our destination of feeling happy and found ourselves farther away from it. We can’t seem to stop reminding ourselves how bad we feel.
– The Mindful Way Through Depression by Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, and Jon Kabat-Zinn.
3. A question: what’s something small you can focus on with total awareness?
It’s the whole “practicing mindfulness” thing, ya know?
(Don’t worry, I’ve got a meditation to help you out.)
4. A meditation: brush your teeth
Think or read this while brushing your teeth. It’ll help you focus on what you’re doing.
Brushing my teeth and rinsing my mouth,
I vow to use truthful and loving speech.
When my mouth is fragnant with right speech,
a flower blooms in the garden of my heart.
– Present moment, wonderful moment by Thich Nhat Hahn
Fresh breath isn’t guaranteed. That’s on you.
5. A song: I can’t stop singing this
🎵 Does it help you to heal, to touch your staying power? Through the fall and the feel, no one lasts forever here. 🎵
There can always be more reverb.
See ya next week with 5 more lovely things.
🌊
cz xxo