Welcome back to day three of the From Adversity to Opportunity series.
This is CK Lin.
The intention here is to help you to be happier,
Healthier,
And stronger,
Especially during this challenging time.
Yesterday we talked about who we are is what we consume.
So be very cognizant about what we consume.
Today I wanna talk to you about the importance of self-care.
Now you may say CK,
This is so basic.
What I wanna emphasize here is especially during uncertain times,
Especially during challenging times,
It's even more important that we focus on our sphere of influence,
Our sphere of control,
Our sphere of rituals.
Because if you focus on things that you can't control,
Then you will get even more anxious,
More nervous,
And more worried.
But if you actually focus on your sphere of influence,
Things you actually have control over,
Starting with yourself,
That's when we'll get real power,
Real strength,
Real certainty.
What I wanna focus on here is rituals that you have to maintain your own sovereignty,
Maintain your own control,
Maintain your sphere of influence,
Starting from,
Number one,
What kind of nutrition you're getting.
Number two,
What kind of exercises you're getting.
Number three,
What kind of rest you're getting.
And number four,
What kind of gratitude rituals you have.
These are all things that you have direct control over.
In uncertain times,
It's very easy,
Very simple for us to say,
I'm worried,
I'm concerned,
I'm nervous,
Therefore,
Let me throw everything out the window.
Let me just go consume all the chocolate,
All the ice cream,
All the sugary things,
All the alcohol,
All the Netflix,
All the news that I normally wouldn't consume.
But because this is a extraordinary time,
I'm just gonna eat all I can eat,
Right?
It's very easy to go down that road.
It requires a little bit more effort now to be aware,
To be cognizant,
To continue to follow through what you know you ought to do for yourself.
The second thing here I wanna focus on is exercise.
It's very easy to forego your exercise routines,
Giving the excuse of not having a gym,
As an example.
I can't go to the gym anymore,
Therefore,
I'm just gonna not do it.
I have my regular exercise,
My resistance-based exercise,
My weightlifting rituals,
My yoga class.
It's very easy to use all of that as an excuse to stop exercising altogether.
For those of you that have regular exercise rituals,
You know that exercising enhance your mood,
It enhance your cognitive capability,
It enhance your energy level.
You just feel so much better afterwards.
At the same time,
It also enhances your spirituality as well because it challenges you to actually be in the present moment right now.
So make sure you maintain your exercise ritual.
The third thing is how much rest you're getting,
How much rest you're getting.
It's very easy just to throw everything out the window and just go to bed at four in the morning and wake up at two in the afternoon,
Et cetera.
In times of uncertainty,
It's even more important that you maintain your rest.
Rest is directly proportional to how much immunity you have.
If you don't have enough rest,
Your immunity is proven to go down.
Proper rest is the bedrock of your emotionality,
Your immunity,
As well as your cognitive capability.
So rest is super,
Super important.
Make sure you get enough rest.
Make sure you get consistent rest at consistent time.
The fourth thing,
And very,
Very important from my point of view,
Is the ritual of gratitude.
Most of us are grateful during extraordinary moments.
You go to a special concert,
You see a special performance,
You go to a special festival,
You go on a special vacation,
You have special occasions like birthdays,
Anniversaries,
Weddings,
And so forth,
Right?
We're very grateful for extraordinary moments like that at the same time.
Now you're being forced to stay at home through social distance.
It's very easy to say,
This is so ordinary,
This is so boring,
And therefore it's easy to not have gratitude for ordinary moments.
The practice I'm inviting you to take on is to deepen your gratitude for these ordinary moments.
Each ordinary moment is the atomic unit of our days,
Our weeks,
Our months,
Our years,
Our decades,
And ultimately our life.
The more you practice being grateful for the ordinary moments,
The more you'll be able to appreciate your overall life.
If you can actually deepen your appreciation of the ordinary moments,
The collective whole of your entire life would be so much more meaningful.
So practice deepening your gratitude for ordinary moments.
Just like when you go to the gym,
You develop your capacity to lift heavier weights.
At a time of limitations and restrictions right now,
You can actually develop more capacity for different dimensions of freedom.
Let me repeat that again.
At a time of limitations and restriction,
You can actually develop a higher capacity for different dimensions of freedom.
All right,
My friends,
The intention of the series is to help you to be happier,
Healthier,
And stronger,
Especially during this challenging time.
So I'm inviting you to try this on so you can see for yourself whether or not this makes a difference for you.
Go on and experiment with it,
The choice is yours.
Test for yourself.
And let me know how this impacts the rest of your day during this special time.
Stay safe,
Stay positive,
Lots of love to all of you.
See you tomorrow.
