Another year gone by…just a few days and we will be at the end of 2018! You might be doing your financial accounts every year, but have we spent some time on accounting our own lives? How many days in this year, have we spent joyfully, doing things that we care for?  Or has it been a year of misery, frustration and despair?  Unless we take accounts, we wouldn’t know whether we have gone forward or backward, right?

For those of you who have been working and feel that you haven’t invested enough time for yourself, would suggest that you spend the next few days before the year ends and take accounts! See how you have fared and what steps you need to take to take charge of your life.

If after your audit, you feel that you have done pretty good, then 2019 could be a year to step on the pedal and continue to focus on your inner growth.

If you feel that not much progress has happened and that your life is going on in repetitive cycles, then it would be good to plan and dedicate some time for your inner well-being. It would help if you can dedicate at least 3-6 months just to work on yourself. This short break could help you to stop,look and proceed further!

I understand that taking 3-6 months break from your career or family could involve a lot of difficult changes and decisions to make but if you make it a priority, things could fall in place for you. For some companies,they also have an option to take a sabbatical or unpaid leave, and if nothing else, if you are good enough, you could always find a job when you want to come back! And sometimes these difficult decisions you take could prove to be the turning point in your life.

I remember that about 10 years back, when I was doing a software job and was faced with a similar decision of taking a break from my job to really figure out about myself – it was one of the most difficult decisions I had to ever make in my whole life! The comfort of a secure job and position, family was too hard to break out of and to step into unknown terrain. There was tremendous pressure from family and friends to continue toeing the line, since me being the only son, it was literally a very difficult thing to break out of!  The kind of emotional turmoil myself and my family went through, I hope that no one else has to go through, since it was definitely not easy…but now when I look back and see,  I’m so glad that I went through all the trouble, because it gave a new direction to my life, a new level of courage and strength and the clarity to create my life the way I wanted to.

I’m not saying that everyone has to do what I did, each person can decide what action they feel will be the best for their inner growth and how they can work towards that. Whatever action or path you decide to take on the outside, your inner growth can still happen. This reminds me of Sadhguru’s quote – “If you are concerned about the world, the first thing you need to do is transform yourself into a joyful being” . If inner growth happens, then whatever happens outside, we can handle it to the best of our capabilities;but if inner growth is not taken care of, external growth may still not bring well-being!

If you are still thinking that money, position, family or anything else for that matter will settle you, unfortunately it’s just a matter of time when you will see that it’s not so. Anyone who thinks that there is something more important in life than to work on oneself, is definitely bound to be proven wrong, sooner or later. The sooner we realize this, the better equipped we can be to make amends.

What if this realization strikes you when you are 60, when your bones are creaking, that your whole life was spent on working for things that you didn’t even care for and you never got time to work on the most important thing – yourself! Imagine, how remorseful it could be when you can’t even do anything to turn back the clock and know that time is ticking away! What to do with all the riches you have gathered, when your own body and mind itself have let you down?

Modern comforts and conveniences have fast forwarded our growth – it’s now easier to realize in your 20s or 30s itself what people used to realize in their 50s or 60s. Let’s make best use of the time we have in our hands. Hope and wishing that the new year 2019 is one of the best years of our life ahead! Feel free to share your plans for 2019…for ‘yourself’ 🙂

PS:

How to plan for ‘yourself’?

Would suggest that you take some time off for yourself, sit in a place where you are undisturbed and go through the below video, which could help you to plan your new year.

Video : A Plan and a Resolution for the New Year –  https://youtu.be/nZyINWdacdY

Also if you were looking for options that could help you spend your time meaningfully, I have listed a few below, available at Isha Yoga Center –

1. Sadhana pada –  this is an opportunity to spend 6 months at the ashram doing Sadhana

Details: https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en/volunteer/sadhanapada

2. Part time or full time teacher trainings – an opportunity to take time off ( between few weeks to even 6 months ), deepen you internal growth and also become equipped to offer this possibility to more people.

Details: https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en/yoga-meditation/yoga-teacher-training