Can’t remember where you put your keys?
Not able to find those important documents again?
Panicking and rushing to complete the assignment just before deadline, as usual?
Promised yourself an early morning walk but glued to the thriller movie or something else on TV till 1 am?
Feeling betrayed in love or friendship yet again?
Getting up always with the same fearful thoughts?
Going through that emotional trauma over and over again?
And so on….
Have you ever noticed yourself following the same patterns in life again and again?
We all have subconscious patterns running our life, because we live most of our life on autopilot (more than 80%).
Subconscious mind operates on a specific belief system and programming in form of habits and patterns until these patterns are consciously noticed, challenged and changed.
At some point in your life, you must have experienced and get annoyed by these patterns whether it’s finishing the cookie jar again unintentionally, losing the important document when needed in emergency or getting into similar hurtful situation.
Once you feel you’d enough of same stuff and are ready to change, the change can be initiated.
Action and behavioural patterns are easy to be identified and rectified too. Though the emotional patterns are hard to be challenged, as we are deeply attached to our own patterns.
There’s a safety in the familiarity of these cocoons. Also at some level we fear change and enjoy the game of victimhood.
The truth is, there is another reality.
Your soul is desperately trying to break these chains and experience complete freedom.
Until we become conscious and aware of our fears and patterns, and open up to new possibilities; we cannot experience the fullness of life and expand the horizon of our experiences.
If you travel often, and love to experience new places, people and things, you might have wondered what others are missing who has never come out of their abode ever and look at the world with new eyes.
So what to do when you are willing to change?
Take a pause, introspect, question and challenge yourself to identify these patterns and their causes.
Once you accept and see the deep root causes of these patterns, be courageous to start making a shift by simply stretching yourself to do things differently.
You can start with the basic behaviour and attitude shifts and awareness.
If you always sleep late and get up late, go to bed really early and wake up before sunrise (stretch how early you can make it).
If you always make friends with people similar to you, start a conversation with that guy / girl who is just the opposite of you, whether it’s the way they dress up, talk, their openness or shyness.
If you never initiate the first conversation, this time do so.
If you always play safe, take risks.
If you’ve always lived life planned, be spontaneous. Take yourself and your family on a surprise holiday.
If you always save, spend outrageously on something good, may be a gift.
If you’re extravagant, save consistently for some time.
Spend a whole day to serve and help others.
If you’ve always believed certain things in a certain way, do just the opposite of that.
If you judge someone frequently, this time look at them with soft non-judgmental eyes and accept them with love and compassion.
Choose chocolate instead of vanilla this time (or vice versa 🙂
Believe everything that you labelled bad, was actually the best that could’ve happened to you.
Look at this world in a completely different way!
When you do, notice how you feel, what thoughts cross your mind; above all, wonder and be curious about yourself.
Can you take a full daybreak just to sit with yourself?
Ask yourself questions, what is your desire and your vision? And above all, who are you?
What is in you; ‘which is not you’ or ‘which is not who you want to be’?
Ask what are you ready to drop in order to taste a different you?
Wait for the answer.
Pause and listen.
Take this break every three months at least, and find a little more of you.
“The change begins when you say, I don’t know.” I don’t know myself.
I would like to know myself, be curious like a child who sees an ant or butterfly for the very first time and is awestruck by its mere beauty.
The journey is all about unlearning, breaking the chains and freeing yourself.
Once you let go, you might find yourself with the patterns again (may be the new ones this time). That’s perfectly ok, and that’s the time you say in your heart; time to start unlearning again….
The process of finding yourself is eternal…. like you are!