Can Clarity Result in Better Character?
Life throws at us a lot of demands. Sometimes at once. And it judges us by our character.
A powerful saying is, “your character is determined by how you choose to respond to whatever your life throws at you.”
But how does one improve his/her own character?
As Data age grows, information is growing exponentially. More images, more videos, more articles and more opinions. Thoughts are becoming more complex. Attention span is becoming lesser.
In midst of all this, the only question we ask ourselves is:
I need Clarity.
Clarity is what drives the improvement of one’s character.
As I started pursuing and following “Clarity” it taught me some lessons that I have picked up along the way.
These are some things, now I know for sure. Here are six of them for you.
1. If It is Not a Definite Yes then it is a Definite No:
Never again I will do anything for anyone that I do not feel directly from my heart. We are here to contribute in this world, but only to with a good feeling. A contribution with a bad feeling just sends out bad energy.
I will not attend a meeting, or a phone call, or eat out or engage in any activity where my heart does not go on Hell Yeah!
I ask this question every day and every when.
No more questions about it. No more thinking about it whether I did right or wrong.
Is it a definite yes? If it‘s not, then its a definite no.
2. Giving Yourself Time:
Are you glued to your phone? or Computer, perhaps?
Are you just consuming or do you intend to create something with it?
Do you know your mind is the most engaging and happy when it is creating something?
So if you are deep into “The Witcher” series, I would ask you to honestly think about your feelings when you are not watching it.
Giving yourself time helps you nourish your little child inside. It energizes you, and connects to your subconscious. It shows you direction in life.
You can pray, you can meditate. You can walk in the park. You can play a little music. Anything that doesn’t contribute to others, but yourself only, is giving yourself time. You need that. Even if it is just a small portion of the day.
3. Growing and Experiencing:
Maybe you want to be the star in everyone’s lives around you and help them with their problems. Help them with your best abilities.
But how can you pour water into other’s mug, when your own mug is empty?
How can you even help others, when if you don’t know what helps you?
Once you start giving yourself time, and listen to yourself, you will know what problems are at hand that you need to solve. Where you need to grow and what experience you have to get.
Ironically enough, when you make peace with the fact that the purpose of life is not happiness, rather experience and growth, happiness comes as a byproduct.
Start small, do it and finish it. It will give you the push for more.
4. Protect Your Time:
How you spend your time defines who you are. Do not waste time — because you don’t want to waste yourself.
You want to understand where your time goes? Measure it. Divide your next day into 30 minute blocks with specific chores. You will sleep excited tonight.
Working with people you do not love, leaves you with a feeling that it has consumed your time, because we are naturally drawn to spending time with people we actually love, consciously and subconsciously.
5. Desire to Acquire the Fundamentals:
We are taught to desire money, fame and materials. But these are secondary.
The wises’ on the top; their methods are different. They desire to acquire knowledge and wisdom.
When you see them giving speeches about their success, they seem humble because their success is a surprise to them, they didn’t actively pursue it. They take it as a contribution to the society, when they share their knowledge.
It is tough, but when you can practice to let your secondary desire to acquire go away, you are really on your way. Enough with the stuff that doesn’t really enhance who we really are. That’s the real art of decluttering.
4. Breathe:
Centuries over centuries, people who are known all over the history are known throughout to use this only technique: “When you are stressed, meditate.”
Breathing is also a meditation. How? When you can follow the air coming in and out, you are meditating. How about taking the air for four seconds, keeping it for four seconds, empty your stomach for four seconds, and then leaving it be for four seconds. So, a 4:4:4:4 model.
A little restoration goes a long way. Breathing is the secret of life that many of us often overlook.
5. Education:
Education is the door to freedom and clarity. The more you know, the more you don’t know. The more you don’t know, the more clarity you have about what you actually know and what you want to do with it.
6. Going Mindless:
Some call it journaling, some call it self-reflection. I call it going mindless.
I write one page about what I did all day and what I did not. In my sense of right and wrong, what I could have done better. I call it going mindless.
Because after I am done, I have an empty mind.
Ready to fill in some joy before sleep.
Character is a long journey. It starts with when we actively realize the need, and the improvement goes on and off till the end of life. If we are to effectively nurture and succeed at the demands life throws at us, we need to start accepting that we need better clarity.
Once you start attaining clarity, you will find a lot of people on the way, to get a feedback on how your character has improved.
Happy Journey. :)
