Well, today ends the first month of the year. It was just yesterday that I was bringing in the new year, and it’s already 1/12th over! Time flies, doesn’t it?!

Or, maybe it’s just me. This month was quite a busy one, on both the work and personal front. Last few days, it’s been tough getting any time at all. When one is running from one deadline to another, one needs a way to recharge, to avoid collapsing altogether. And recharge quickly too! It’s not like one can take a two day hiatus from life! If only everyone had a “fast charger” for their life.. 😄

Luckily, I have found mine. And you can use it too, if it’s compatible with your “device”, aka, your soul. So, without making this a suspense drama, I’ll let you in on my so-called “fast charger”: it is nature. I just love being around nature, and it is something that gives me immense peace and contentment.

But why do I call it my “fast charger”? Well, this is something that I just realized this past week. Even though I’d been tired, mentally and physically, from the stress, lack of sleep, etc., 15 minutes of a mindful morning being in nature was all it took to leave me invigorated. Yes, just 15 minutes! It felt so nice to just be in that moment, taking in the beauty and serenity of it all. I didn’t realize the full effect that it would have on me at that moment though. It was during the rest of the day, when I was busy with other things, that I really knew the value of those few moments from the morning. I had an energy and liveliness that I didn’t have in the days leading up to that morning. I felt light, and not under a cloud of heaviness that usually comes with stress.

And I realized something.

When you are in the place where you feel at home, when you are doing things that you really enjoy doing, when you are around people you love, time changes its dimensions. While only 15 minutes may elapse on the clock, what you experience is worth much, much more.

This is something I’ve alluded to earlier as well in another one of my posts, “The Importance Of Life’s Center”. For me, “nature” is my “center”. Different people may have different “centers”. Everyone needs to find their own. It may be an activity, a place, a person, a thought, anything really. 

But the key is to be mindful and present when you are engaging with your “center”. I think that was the difference between this morning and so many other ones, all of which I usually spend in the same manner. Being mindful is what makes us see things clearly. It opens all our senses to the wonder and joy that we find in our “center”.

And it’s easy to see that with a very simple example too: suppose you have a “soul song” – a song that’s really close to your heart, that means something, that reminds you of something or someone important. Most of us have something like this. Now imagine this song is playing somewhere in the background during the day, when you are already working or doing something else that’s taking up some part of your attention. You might be aware of the song playing, but you wouldn’t feel very strongly about it. Now imagine you are playing the same song at night, while lying in bed before sleeping. The feelings that the song will invoke in you now will be far stronger. The difference? Your attention.

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That morning was a reminder of the power of mindfulness to me. And also, of the importance of being around nature for me. We lead such busy and unmindful lives that we often don’t realize what peace and joy can be found in even the simplest of all moments. 😊

I’ll leave you today with this quote from Terri Guillemets, because it seems very apt to what I felt that morning:

(This quote is another thing I’ve already written about once earlier as well, if you are interested.)

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Photo by Michael Held on Unsplash