Good morning everyone. Happy Friday. Today it's a kind of weird recording time. So I take a medicine called I-Bandry-Aid.
It's for it's a slow release medicine and it's for preventive osteo... It's an I- So initially when I started taking this I said, oh my god. My emotions, my thoughts and feelings and behaviors and gestures were something like this. Oh my god.
One hour I cannot sit. I cannot lie down. All that cannot cannot cannot. Everything was pouring or maybe occupying my brain's hard drive.
So I would fear that day I-Bandry-Aid. Now then I said I befriended the I-Bandry-Aid day. So the previous night I put a nice note for myself on my counter, kitchen counter. Please take I-Bandry-Aid.
So what did I do? I transformed that fear or maybe resistance to a celebration. And also I'm being very compassionate and loving to myself and saying, hey please take I-Bandry-Aid. So next morning what happens is I do not forget it.
Number one. Second thing and because I take it on the same day every month. And then what do I do? I take a glass of water whatever it is.
So initially what I would do is I- This is how I've been transitioning. So I would now plan. I would plan. So not not not.
I would plan. What would I do for that one hour? Okay standing. Standing activities.
Okay. So there are a couple of things going on here. Normally what do I do? Normally I take two glasses of water.
Then I take my herbal water. Then I have my tea. So and then my meditation morning musings and all that stuff. You know the morning thing.
Now it's very different. No tea. No herbal tea. I mean herbal.
I have my herbal but it's my own solution. And no one glass of water and no sitting and all that stuff. Right. Okay.
So what would I do? So I said okay. I listened to devotional chanting and songs in the morning. So it's about seven minutes for Hanuman.
Panchabakkha Hanuman Kavacham. About 20 minutes for Vankarashvara Supervadam. And then some other like Rudram, Chama Kambhava. It depends upon the day.
Right. So today is Friday. So Friday I said okay. Seven minutes for Vankarashvara.
Hanuman Kavacham. And about 19 to 20 minutes for Vankarashvara. And about I think about 29 minutes for what for Marakshi Supervadam. Because today's Friday.
Okay. So I would listen. I said I would listen to that. Plus I had my coloring notebook.
You know coloring the book which was gifted by my daughter-in-law. So I said I will have that. I'll do the coloring. And I also have the word fine book.
So I have already given that one hour, one hour of my time. I have filled it with activities in my mind. And automatically I'm driven to that. And also I've prepared my environment for that.
Like I've got the coloring book. I've got the you know, word fine book. And I've got my you know, my iPad ready and all that stuff. Right.
So my timing is set. My activity is set. Today I said okay. Anyway, I'm standing and recording my podcast episode.
Right. Why don't I record one podcast episode? That's what. So this is something different.
So I fitted into my iPad and it timing. Okay. Anyway, let's come back to today's title. So this article was again written as as an effort to participate in a 30-day writing challenge by one of the offered by one of the publications.
And the daily prompt is day 26. The question it was written in September. So I published it in September. So right now we are in what June.
Right. Okay. So daily prompt day 26. When was the last time you left your comfort zone?
How did you grow? I would say actually I left my comfort zone today because I would not record a podcast episode unless I was in that particular mindset, in that particular timing and space. Today I really stepped out of the comfort zone. Right now I'm stepping out as I'm recording.
Okay. So the title I gave for this article was this one activity got me out of my comfort zone. And the subtitle is that is one in cheering one in cheering. Okay.
As an introvert, I rarely initiate a conversation with an unknown person. I was happy with a few sets of friends with whom I would have meaningful conversations. It all challenged one day when all of a sudden I had the urge to volunteer to make governance for deities in a temple that I frequently visit. I can still remember how awkward I felt when I sheepishly asked one of the temple volunteers if I could join.
I did not have any experience in making governance, but having managed a bank branch several years ago in a different country, I knew that I had the gift for figuring out how different people can work together productively. How did I grow? After challenging myself for several weeks to show up regularly on time, I realized that my life changed. You may ask how?
I started paying attention and learning from other volunteers. Undoubtedly, I learned the gallon making craft, but socializing with unknown people with the icing on the cake that came with volunteering. I created the following mindset. Lalita, getting out, working a certain number of hours and getting paid is great, is great.
But if you can discipline yourself to step out once a week and do the work knowing that you won't get paid, then you are tightening the money. Tighting is a keyword. Tighting all the money away not to please anyone but to enrich your true soul. We volunteers were able to collectively embrace and master showing up consistently and become efficient in our craft.
We were able to support the temple priests by saving their time and energy and also money which they would have had to pay to garland makers. I was able to explore and point out each volunteer's unique brilliance just by observing each person's time, each person's motivation, how each one thinks and how each one builds relationships. I also allowed and used other volunteers' gracious compliments in enriching my life and my lifestyle. It was Salu al-Saul enriching to hear the one-of-a-kind stories each volunteer had in them, belonging to the group being accepted and mutually contributing to each other and to the temple added to everyone's overall being.
More importantly, it helped me step out of my introverted minds comfort zone and meet and become friends with new people. Shout out to Nur, Zirman for a thought-provoking article titled The Climber, The Hiker and the Runner. I have also given a link to one of my previous articles and a podcast episode and four C's learned from 143 stories. At the end, please see, subscribe to my stories, my email for the best chance to catch my original works.
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Bye bye.