Tuesday 22 May 2018

Just for Today I Will Be True to Myself


As a society today, we are as fake as we can get. Plastered smiles when greeting people you do not like, is not considered fake, but good social etiquette. Your parents encourage you to put on an act while meeting elders who they may think little of. 

Your peers want you to give them compliments for achievements that you couldn’t care less about. Your partner wants you to always be supportive of their undertakings. Your children need to be mock scolded so that they learn what is socially acceptable.

It’s a vicious circle where you are expected to act as the person in front of you desires, without ever once being able to express your own self. In fact, often you are so engrossed in playing all these different roles, that you yourself are unaware of who the authentic you is!


Today’s Call to Action

Make an effort to truly understand what part is the authentic you and what is the socially acceptably you facade that you project. Get out a paper and pencil. Here are a few questions that you need to sit down and answer honestly. Think of it as getting to know a new best friend.

Make a list of seven things you would like to do today, if you had no commitments. Make it as simple as possible. Even stuff like going shopping for clothes, wanting to sleep in late, eating an ice cream, or simply going to see a movie, can go onto the list. However you must have seven different activities mentioned.

Now make a list of things that you would like to experience. Make them as exaggerated as possible. Stuff that can make the list may include taking a world tour, learning 10 languages, taking a month off to cycle through the state, going white water rafting or anything else that you deem exciting. There is no maximum limit to this list but it should have at least seven things on it.

Once you are done compare the two lists. Find out what it is that you enjoy. Things that you are passionate about. This will help you figure out the things that make you happy, not society, but you. Now work towards including these things that you are passionate about in your life. Be true to yourself and make your self talk encouraging.

Affirmation – I am true to myself. I nurture my connection to my authentic, higher self with my thoughts, words and actions. I stand in my full power.

I wish you an authentic and happy life.
Love and light, always
Cashmere

Monday 14 May 2018

Just for Today I am Willing to Celebrate Instead of Criticize



How many times have you been scolded as a child, for not doing something that your parent desired? If you had a normal childhood, it’s likely that you have experienced your fair share of criticism from parents, teachers, and other adults in authority around you. This set you up for being critical of yourself. Everything that you wanted to do or say, had to go through an internal filter in your mind.

As you grew up into an adult, you began to negate what were thought of as childish desires. Your self talk would have fallen into a pattern that asked more of you. That demanded you do better than last time. Just like your mother used to demand better marks, when she saw your end of year report card.

This forced you to do better. To give it your all. To motivate you to be the best. I’m not saying that this is wrong. Yes, we need to strive to improve ourselves. There is much that we can achieve if our inner voice asks more of us. However, we must also take time out to celebrate ourselves.

Isn’t that an alien concept! How can we celebrate ourselves? Isn’t the validation of a job well done supposed to come from people in our social circle? While it is true that social recognition plays an important part in our lives, it is also true that only if we are able to accept and celebrate ourselves that such recognition can be satisfactory.

Today’s Call to Action

The idea is to move from pulling yourself down all the time and being critical, to building yourself up and being supportive. We all have unique challenges in our lives. Some are similar to what others are going through, some may be unparalleled to what experiences others have.


You don’t have to wait for an occasion to celebrate. Take every small victory as an excuse. You met a demanding deadline at work? It’s time to treat yourself to a relaxed evening with friends. You managed to not eat junk food for a week while on a diet to lose weight? Pamper yourself with a special spa treatment.

By celebrating yourself, you are giving recognition to the tasks that you have accomplished. It can be an incredible motivator to doing better in the future. Celebration is a much better motivator than criticism.

Affirmation – I celebrate every accomplishment of mine, no matter how big or small. I track and celebrate my achievements. I support and motivate myself to follow my dreams.

I wish you constant celebrations in your life.
Love and light, always
Cashmere

Monday 7 May 2018

Just for Today I am Willing to Forgive


Forgiveness, it’s a word that invokes strong emotions. If you feel that you have been wronged by someone, you carry that hurt with you. Your head feels heavy and your heart hurts when you think of the past. No matter how much someone may exalt the virtue of forgiveness, you may not be in the space to actually think about it. They say time heals everything.

Time is not the answer to healing old hurts, it’s what you do in that time that matters!

Are you still feeling victimized by people who may have betrayed your trust? Isn’t it an effort to hold on to all those negative emotions? If you feel you would rather let the past stay in the past, by forgetting the hurt, but keeping the lessons, you are now ready to start the process of forgiveness.

Make no mistake, it won’t be easy. It’s not instant, but a full fledged process.

Most often the hurt makes us want to seek revenge, not offer forgiveness. This is like locking yourself with the person who hurt you, into a room in your mind, together. Neither of you can leave that room and the only one continuously hurting, is you! The desire for revenge eats you up slowly but surely, leaving behind only a shell of the beautiful soul that you once were.

Till that clicks in your mind, it’s never going to be ready to forgive. You need to be ready to stay the course during the process of forgiveness, and genuinely want to forget those who have caused you pain.

Today’s Call to Action

When you are ready to begin the forgiveness process, begin by sitting in a comfortable place where you will not be disturbed for a while. Then open your mind to the hurt that is festering inside you. Think of the person who hurt you. If you have a photograph of the person, look at it.

Don’t try to stop the thoughts and feelings as they flow through you. There may be some physical discomfort initially, and your breath may be affected. Just keep focus on breathing normally. Once the initial intensity of the hurt decreases, you may use these statements to begin forgiveness.

I am willing to forgive (name of person) for (action that hurt).”
I take the lesson and release the hurt.”
I forgive myself.”

The first statement can be repeated for different actions that have caused you hurt. Keep going till you can think of no more things to forgive this person for. This must be repeated each day for at least a week. Over time, the resentment you felt towards this person, will begin to decrease.

At this point you will feel lighter. The thought of the person will no longer cause a negative emotional reaction. Now you are ready to release them and move on to any other person who you may want to forgive.

Affirmation – I forgive and release the past. I forgive myself, and I forgive everyone else. I live my life in the present and design a beautiful future.

I wish you a release from the past hurt holding on to you.
Love and light, always
Cashmere

Tuesday 1 May 2018

Just for Today I will Honour My Time


Do you have a friend who is always late for appointments? No matter how much you try to explain to them that they need to be punctual, they always end up at least five minutes delayed, if not more. It can be a very frustrating experience, especially when you are extremely particular about honouring your time.

Or perhaps it’s the other way round for you. No matter how hard you try, you always end up missing deadlines and reaching late for meetings. It’s not like you want to get late, but invariably you get held up at the last minute doing something urgent. Then you rush around like a headless chicken trying to make up for the lost time, but still can’t make it on time.

How you handle time is a good reflection of how you handle yourself. If you respect your time, that is a good indication that you have a healthy sense of self respect. If time is always racing away from you, then you are chasing the feeling of self worth without ever experiencing it.

If you don’t care enough about yourself to bother with managing your time efficiently, you are happy to get bogged down with things that demand your attention.

These situations may seem more urgent to you than your own health and self care. Notice I said urgent, not important. Nothing is more important than you, and yet you can make time for everything and everyone but yourself.

Do you deny that you will not have time to take out ten minutes to do meditation, but will speak to a friend who calls up discussing the weekend outing for more than that duration? Don’t to find it easier to watch mindless television series to “unwind”, than to go out for a walk that will help keep you physically fit?

All of us are guilty to some degree of not honouring our time.

Today’s Call to Action

Do a life audit. Write down the five things that you seem to spend the maximum time on during your day. Then write down the five things that you would rather be doing in your day. How deep is the disconnect in what you are doing and what you want to do?

Stop squandering your time on things that you really don’t want to do, but feel that you must. Don’t commit to activities that eat into your personal time. Try to avoid taking on more than your mental space can handle during the workday.

It’s okay to let go of an old project that doesn’t seem to be moving. You may have outgrown the dream, but are still hoping to get some return on your investment of money. However, if it’s draining you of the most crucial resource of time, do you think it’s worth it?

Affirmation – I choose to honour myself by honouring my time. I make good use of each new day granted to me.

I wish you happy times ahead.
Love and light, always
Cashmere

Sunday 22 April 2018

Just for Today I will Seek Solitude

There is a difference between being alone and being lonely. Loneliness creeps up on you when you don’t feel comfortable being on your own. You seek the company of others to make yourself feel better. You are sad and anxious when people are not around you.

If you are always looking outwards towards the material world, you will feel loneliness. Especially when all the stimuli of the material world is removed from your presence. On the other hand, if you are looking at self growth, at being more spiritual, the path begins with looking inwards. This means being comfortable in solitude.

You can be alone, and still be comfortable in your skin. You can spend time reflecting on what you want to do. The lack of contact from people is something that you actually desire, and look forward to. It is in solitude, that you find peace of mind by simply being with yourself.

Solitude as a spiritual practice is nothing new. The saints and rishis have been escaping to the mountains for centuries. To be close to nature. To nurture their souls. To find deeper meaning. It  can all happen when you isolate yourself from the material world and seek solitude.

The big problem is you and I are not saints or rishis. We are householders, those who choose to live, love and work in the material world. Does that means that we are devoid of all spirituality and solitude? Not at all.

Today’s Call to Action

Find a time during your day when you can enjoy 15 minutes of solitude. Where there is no intrusion of computers, smartphones, school work, office phone calls, television programs or radio shows. A period of time when there is absolutely no distraction for you, when you can seek a deeper connection with yourself.

Just lock yourself away in a room and close you eyes. Empty your mind of any thoughts that come using a simple meditation technique. Imagine three baskets before you. Label them past, present and future. Now as soon as a thought arises in your mind, simply decide which basket it belongs to and place it in that.

No judging the thought or wondering why it came, or trying to solve the problem it presents. Simply acknowledge that it has come and then let it pass into the relevant basket. Keep repeating this till you have no more thoughts in your head. Now enjoy this space where you are entirely in the present. Relax and breath deeply for as long as you wish to stay in this place of solitude.

When you learn to enjoy your own company, you become better at choosing who to spend your time with. With time and effort you will soon change the desert of your loneliness to a garden of solitude.

Affirmation – I enjoy spending time in solitude as it helps me connect better with myself. As my mind calms, I connect better with my soul and the Universe. My solitude represents my freedom.

I wish you days of enjoying your own company.
Love and light, always
Cashmere

Sunday 15 April 2018

Just for today I will Set and Respect Personal Boundaries

Ever so often we end up losing our peace of mind because we are arguing with someone close to us. A loved one can feel restrictive when they try to advice us on how to manage our matters better. It could be a parent wanting to guide an adult child, or a well meaning friend who wants you to do something their way as they believe it to be the best way.

In some cases it could even be because you want to help someone you care deeply about. It may be you who is offering the unsolicited advice and being snubbed for your trouble. While it seems so obvious to you that what you are saying is correct and the right thing to do, your loved one may resent what they feel is your interference in their personal affair.

You know someone is ignoring your personal boundaries when you feel mistreated. You may feel you are wasting too much of your time on someone. You feel taken for granted. You feel other people are trying to dominate you and control your actions.

If you are constantly feeling like a victim of other people’s badgering you may want to consider setting healthy personal boundaries. Set healthy boundaries as it is a part of your self care practice. Also make sure that you don’t push other people into doing things that make them fearful of you. Just as you set your own boundaries, pay attention to other people’s personal boundaries. Respect goes a long way in making any relationship work.

Today’s Call to Action

Learn to say “NO”. When people want you to do something for them, which you don’t want to or don’t have time for, just open your mouth and say “NO.” If you can’t say no to someone in person, do so via the smartphone. Texting a short message takes hardly any time. You can even practice saying the word “NO” to yourself in the mirror so that it becomes easier to say it to others.

Remember each time you say NO to someone else, you say YES to yourself.

Initially it may take a while for other people to understand that you are drawing a line. However as long as you are consistent, they will realise that it is a boundary that you are unwilling to compromise on. Remember you are well within your rights to have these boundaries.


Affirmation – I set and respect healthy personal boundaries. My relationships are rooted in a loving exchange of energy.

I wish you relationships that run on love and acceptance.
Love and light, always
Cashmere

Sunday 8 April 2018

Just for Today I will Monitor My Self Talk

Our mind is like a playful monkey. It is always hopping from one branch of the tree to another. Just like how the thoughts race through our mind, from one topic to another. It takes a certain amount of willpower to stop this undisciplined thinking and focus on a specific topic long enough to get a task done.

Any productive human being knows that the thoughts in the mind need to be guided to perform external tasks. What most people don’t realize is that even the internal conversations that you have with yourself can affect your productivity. This constant voice in your head that monitors every action you take, tends to either support you or make you nervous about what you are about to do.

This Self Talk is present all the time. It can be positive or negative. Imagine being with a critic who gives you negative feedback on every action that you take. In most cases the negative criticism can become immobilising. The trained mind knows how to keep the Self Talk positive so that the quality of our lives improves.

The good news is that Self Talk can be monitored and changed from negative to positive. All it takes is a little bit of vigilance to catch your inner critic and tame it. Remember these thoughts are simply a part of your past conditioning, they are not the gospel truth. Plus, at any given time you can change them.

Today’s Call to Action

Become conscious of the words that you are saying to yourself. Notice when you praise yourself for a job well done. Also pay attention when you are criticising your own behaviour. When you catch this criticism, immediately say the words “Cancel, Cancel” out loud. Then replace it with a positively worded encouragement.

For instance, you are about to pour water from a huge glass jug in the restaurant into your glass. The jug is full to the brim and your inner critic is shouting at you – “You are going to drop the water on the table.” Immediately say “Cancel, Cancel.” Then repeat this positive statement to yourself – You can easily pour the water from the jug to your glass.

In another situation, you are about to give a presentation to a client in front of your boss . Needless to say you are a bit nervous. Your inner voice is popping up to say - “Don’t ruin this.” Again say “Cancel, Cancel”. Now tell yourself - “You’ve got this. You are going to do an awesome job.”

It’s a constant task to monitor your Self Talk and keep it positive initially. Then gradually you will shift into a zone where your inner voice begins to encourage and praise you without conscious monitoring.

Affirmation – I constantly use positive Self Talk to build myself up. I am my own biggest cheerleader. I am a winner who is in charge of my life. I can do anything I set my mind to.

I wish you days filled with positive internal conversations.
Love and light, always
Cashmere

Sunday 1 April 2018

Just for Today I will Give Thanks for my Many Blessings



Life brings many people, situations and things to us. Most of them will challenge us in some way to improve ourselves. And when we meet these challenges successfully, we feel a sense of satisfaction, a sense of achievement. This is when we feel the need to express thanks to everything that helped us be successful.

The intention of giving gratitude is one that we often forget to follow through in our busy, productive lives. However, when we take the time to make gratitude a regular part of our journey, we reap many benefits. By regularly reminding ourselves of our blessings, we focus on what is to be appreciated in our lives.

It doesn’t matter if you give your thanks while you pray before sleeping at night, or journal it every morning as soon as you wake up. As long as you note what you are grateful for on a regular basis, you will have more to be grateful for.

Today’s Call to Action

Make giving gratitude a regular part of your day. Take a minute to think about three challenges that you are facing currently. Now catalogue what lessons you have picked up since these challenges appeared in your life. What skills have you developed because you had to handle these challenges? Now give thanks to the challenges for helping you learn these new skills.

Another way to ensure that you stay in a grateful space is to start a gratitude journal. I use one where each day I write down ten things that I am grateful for on that day. It could be about my health, my family, my career, my friends, a gadget that makes my life easy, just about anything can end up on my list.



I don’t have a fixed time for writing in my gratitude journal, but when I sit down to write I ensure that I don’t stop till I have my ten points for the day written down. In addition I also give thanks in advance for things that I want to happen in my life.

I call that part of the journal giving gratitude for future expectations. This helps me stay focused on what I wish to achieve in the near future. It doubles up as a list of goals.

Affirmation – I am thankful to the Universe for everything in my life. I express gratitude for all the wonderful blessings that exist in my life and for the many fantastic blessings headed my way.

I wish you days filled with gratitude.
Love and light, always
Cashmere

Saturday 24 March 2018

Just for Today I will be Kind to Every Living Thing


Kindness is like an old fashioned virtue that we all seem to have heard about, but are not quite sure how to practice. What does being kind involve? Can we only be kind to people who have less than us in material terms, or is it okay to do something kind for someone who seems to have more money than we do?

Kindness is not a tangible thing, but a fleeting emotion that fills your heart with joy and satisfaction. This sensation usually comes up when you do something nice for someone else, without any expectations from them to reciprocate. In fact, doing random acts of kindness allows you to enrich your own lives as well as the lives of those who you perform these acts for.

What can a random act of kindness entail? Giving a bottle of cold water to a stranger in the summer heat. Allowing the person behind you, to go ahead of you at the billing counter. Hold the door open for someone exiting the grocery store. Passing out a packet of biscuit to street vendor at the traffic light. Speaking for five minutes to a grandmother sitting on a bench in the park. 

Give a stranger a compliment. Give someone a hug. Write a letter to someone who you haven’t spoken to in ages. Donate books to a library. Donate clothes to an orphanage. Visit someone in the hospital with flowers. Babysit for a busy mother. Spend time with a veteran and listen to his stories and old memories.

There are so many acts of kindness just waiting to be performed. Not all of them cost money. Some simply require a caring thought and a bit of your time.

Today’s Call to Action

How do you begin a practice of performing random acts of kindness? Here’s a few suggestions that you can start implementing today.

Look around you to see where an act of yours could make the life of someone a bit easier. This means being mindful of the people in your surroundings and not being stuck on your smartphone and oblivious to the world. A hug, a compliment, a thank you can all go a long way in making someone feel better.

If you need more motivation and practice, decide that you will conduct a single act of kindness every day for a month. You can create a list with thirty activities and tick them off as you complete them. Having a print out of the list to look at each morning will help to stay focused. It is interesting to see how many items you can cross off the list and just how soon!

You will find that as you get into the habit of making other people more comfortable, you will also feel better about yourself. After all the vibes that you send out into the Universe, will always return to you tenfold.

Affirmation – I consistently perform random acts of kindness. Kindness costs nothing, but brings me great joy. Kindness is a gift we all can afford to give.

I wish you a life full of random acts of kindness.
Love and light, always
Cashmere

Monday 19 March 2018

Just For Today I Will Do My Work Honestly


Are you an honest person? The fact is that honesty may mean one thing to you and another to the next person. No two people have the exact same standard when it comes to honesty. Some people think it’s okay to take home office stationery, while others feel it’s an absolute disgrace. That stealing stationery from the office should be grounds for dismissal.

Based on your belief, you may think a person is acting dishonestly or stealing. However since we set the standard for honestly in our lives, we often fail to understand that we too, could be found wanting. That others could find us dishonest. That our behaviour may be seen to lack integrity.

Richard Whately, the Archbishop of Dublin said, “Honestly is the best policy.

Yet, all of us are dishonest at some time or the other. The worst form of dishonesty is when you steal from yourself. How is that possible? You may ask.

You steal from yourself, when you choose to deny your talent.


You steal from yourself when you don’t use your gift. You waste your time on silly things like watching television for hours, or spending time aimlessly on social media sites. You are also stealing from the people who could benefit from your sharing your talent. You are denying them access to your gift. Your dishonesty may be causing someone who needs your help, a great deal of anguish.

Today’s Call to Action

Think about your gift to the world. Be honest with yourself when you answer the question, “What can I bring to the world to make it a better place?” It’s not an easy question to answer. Take some time out and make a list of your talents. Now hone in on the ones that help you honestly make a difference.

It does not have to be something extremely elaborate, even of you can make a difference in the life of a single individual during the course of your life, it is worthwhile. Can you help someone become more confident? Can you create something that will help others? Can you support someone in their quest?

Once you have identified certain actions that allow you to use your talent honestly, you will know the next step to be taken. Today make it a point to begin living honestly by taking the first step towards sharing your gift with the world. Call a person you can help. Make a difference in their life. Sharing is caring.

Affirmation – I live my life honestly. I honour my talents and share my gift with the world. I live my life with integrity and speak my truth all the time.

I wish you a lifetime of honest experiences.
Love and light, always
Cashmere