There are times in life we may find ourselves feeling lost. In my case this may be quite literally when travelling or trying to follow google maps and taking many wrong turns! Other times for some this may be more of an internal experience, with our sense of direction and purpose appearing harder to see. This may occur at any time or could also be at moments where life events and changes are happening that shake our equilibrium.
I took the picture above when I was in Brazil. I was having a walk in nature and found the words on signs to speak to me. They were also perfectly placed where the greenery of the hills are vivid to the eye.
They all illustrate important aspects in life and ones that I consider to be of such value to our wellbeing. They could be particularly helpful in moments when we are feeling lost. They can enable us to take action towards regaining direction in the frantic pace that life can often present us with.
Reflita- Reflect
Natureza- Nature
Empatia- Empathy
Amor- Love
Gratidão- Gratitude
My humble interpretations of the words on the signs
Gratitude- A beautiful one! Being grateful and showing our appreciation for what we have in life. Again sometimes in this frantic world the small yet most valuable aspects to what we already possess can be missed, whilst we may focus on what is missing or what is not going right. An example of this was overhearing a conversation the other day where dissatisfaction about the grey and cold weather was being expressed. Another way of looking at this for me in this moment was appreciating the fact that I was able to look at the almost empty sky. A sky that had sky, clouds and rain. There are places in the world where the sky may present dust, violence, distressing noises. So reminding myself of that and looking at what is here reminded me of my privilege at this moment.
https://www.mindful.org/an-introduction-to-mindful-gratitude/
Here I link a lovely blog on more on practicing gratitude that you may find helpful.
Love- Arguably one of the most complex, profound and impacting concepts of all time. One that determines the meaning of life for many of us. When feeling lost or not our best selves, reflecting on what and who we love can bring a sense of warmth and softness to our experience. Even nicer if we can identify what is it that we love and assess if we are in fact doing or nurturing what we love or not. If not how can a plan be made to start thinking about how we can take those steps so we are able to live more in line with what truly matters to us. Often much easier said than done and taking the time to figure out the HOW can be a valuable task in it’s self!
Reflect- When feeling lost or even when we are feeling good, taking time to reflect is a gift we possess that requires no money. Giving ourselves a few minutes, hours, days to just stop and think deeply about what matters to us can be illuminating. It can bring clarity and help us to evaluate where we are at, how far we have come, lessons learned or being learned and enable us to make wises choices going forwards.
Empathy- Defined as ‘the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.’ Empathy and getting in touch with our feelings in general in a kind and compassionate way can have a positive impact on our mood and wellbeing. It can promote connection with others and giving empathy to others as well as ourselves can help us to feel loved, carer for, understood and valued.
Nature- A winner when it comes to connecting us to the beauty that the world has to offer. Fresh air, water, life of the plants, trees, animals, the sun and more. A strong contender in maintaining and enhancing wellbeing. The Mental Health Foundation state that ‘nature can generate many positive emotions, such as calmness, joy, and creativity and can facilitate concentration.’ It also shares that research shows that people who are more connected with nature are usually happier in life and more likely to report feeling their lives are worthwhile.’
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