Sometimes, there are moments in life that are very small in appearance, but their impact is so profound that it changes the entire way of thinking, living, and attitude towards oneself, everything and in my life, such a small habit had a similar effect, and it started with a simple decision that is waking up every morning and spending 10 minutes with oneself and no phone, no talking to anyone else and only silence.
At first, it seemed normal to pick up the phone as soon as I woke up in the morning and check WhatsApp, Instagram, email, etc, but it has become a routine, and that day I decided that I would keep just 10 minutes for myself. Then I realised how much I am getting away from myself, and earlier those 10 minutes used to seem strange, and what should I think, what should I do? I could not understand anything, and sometimes I would sit with my eyes closed. Sometimes I would just look outside myself feel the air gradually, those 10 minutes became the most important part of the day.
That small habit taught me that when we spend time with ourselves, we can listen to our real feelings, and earlier, I used to get carried away with something or the other every day. I used to be in a hurry to do everything. There was no such thing as a patient person and when I gave that time of the morning to myself, I realised that my thinking was changing and I was becoming calmer I was able to take things in stride, and I did not feel the need to react to everything.
In the beginning, I just started talking to myself, like How are you feeling these days, What happened, What did I learn, What do I feel like doing today, These simple conversations make things so clear that the whole day passes with a different quality and gradually, I noticed that I can understand my emotions better and earlier and When I used to get angry, I would directly shout, but now I wait and think whether I should get angry and whether it is necessary to say it, or if it is just a feeling that will pass away.
That little patience in the morning became my self-awareness, and earlier, I used to blame others for everything. If the work went wrong, it was the team's fault, and the mood was spoiled. Someone said something, and now I have started understanding my reaction first, and maybe I was tired or something else was going on in my mind, and when you start understanding your inner self, then everything becomes easy with the people outside as well.
The biggest impact of this habit is that I get the satisfaction of completing my work, which I used to leave incomplete earlier and i can identify destruction and then I get lost in another idea, and end up switching tasks without completing the first one but now, I complete one task with full focus before moving to the next, and probably because of this, the quantity of work is improving, and so is the confidence.
This habit has a major impact on my physical health, and when I am mentally calm, I can listen to my body signals better. Earlier, eating lunch or using the phone all night was a big problem. But now I start my day, which fills me with energy, and I follow my eating, sleeping and exercising pattern more consistently, and this is not an overnight change. It happened gradually, and every day I got a small victory, and those victories became a part of a new way.
I also realized that it is not always possible to change life with big decisions or big actions and sometimes a small practice, a small routine or a small thing can change the direction of life and we think that change will happen only when we are perfect in something, get time, get the mood, everything will fall into place. But the real magic happens when you make positive choices even when the situation isn’t perfect, and just like I chose those 10 minutes.
And if you are thinking that a small habit change something, then I just want to say that yes, change starts small, and those who learn to celebrate their small things, one day they prepare for something bigger, and I started with just one small step, and even today I continue walking on that same path. The way and habit of connecting with oneself may be small, but its effect sometimes reaches every corner of life, and when the effect is from within, it is visible as well. It is felt, and everything is wanted; it feels better as well.