By Jane Sandwood
On a Sunday, what is more rewarding? 1. Buying some microwave dinners and serving them to your family for lunch? Or, 2. Roasting some fish, potatoes and serving with them with delicious vegetables? For the majority of people, the answer is of course number 2. The fact is that whatever you do in life, it will always be more rewarding if you don’t take shortcuts.You will also learn from the experience and have more of an understanding of the universe that we live in.
The philosophy of creating
When you are on your journey of self-discovery, you should first ask yourself what your life goals are. Perhaps you want to start your own business, or become self-sufficient. Perhaps you want to spend more time on your leisure activities and hobbies. The chances are that the majority of things that you want to achieve in life, involve starting at the beginning and creating something from scratch. We have a deep-seated desire to create a legacy and produce something from nothing. In doing so we will learn new skills that will drive us forward and make us ambitious to achieve more. We will be building a foundation for our spiritual self, that can only bring happiness. When you have identified your goals, make sure that you write them down – it helps to make them a certainty in your mind. This way you can also hold yourself accountable for completing your targets and moving forward in life.
Being in charge of your working life
There are over a million startups in Iceland – these are businesses that have been created from scratch, by people that wanted to be a leader in life. They are individuals that have the vision and drive to make themselves the boss. Your idea may be small – perhaps you want to start a craft business, selling knitted hats online. That doesn’t mean that it won’t grow and be successful. A small idea can flourish and inspire others if you are dedicated enough – the most difficult thing is started. So get your business plan down and paper and work out how you can achieve your goals. It may lead to you being able to support yourself financially. You could start something from nothing and be the master of your own working life.
A report published in Forbes found that successful entrepreneurs who created a business from nothing nourished certain personal attributes. They held a deep-founded desire to create something that was completely unique and one-of-a-kind. They then had the ambition to breathe life into their ideas and watch them flourish and grow. The aim is to make something that has a wider impact in the world. To do this requires hard work and dedication, and this in itself has its own personal rewards. It gives us a feelings of pride and self-satisfaction that are enduring. It encourages a sense of confidence that can influence other areas of our life.
Make the most of your leisure time
It might be relaxing watching television in your spare time, but it isn’t nearly as rewarding as taking up a new craft and creating something new. Research has shown that crafting actually releases dopamine in the brain, making you feel happy and satisfied. One study of more than 3,500 crafters found that 81% of them felt happy after they had been doing their craft – more than half of them reported to be very happy. It’s not just the process of creating something that gives us a feelgood factor. Seeing the finished article on the walls, or wearing it produces an immense sense of pride and self- satisfaction. These are feelings that are so underrated in today’s disposable society.
Spending your leisure time on a craft does so much more than make you feel happy though – it is an essential part of renewing our energy and giving us an all round sense of well-being. A study that was published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that spending your free time doing a craft was intrinsic in helping you to mentally and physically recover from the working day. It provides a way of de-stressing and relaxing that is actually good for our minds and bodies. Crafting is a proactive pursuit that encourages mastery, autonomy and meaning in our lives. Ultimately the study found that regularly spending leisure time creating something new, increased occupational well-being, employability and job performance. There was a distinct increase in quality of life, particularly amongst older people.
Creating something from nothing is an important part of our spiritual journey. In doing so we are nourishing the soul and gaining an enormous sense of achievement. You just need to decide now what your life goals are, and you have taken the first step on the path to satisfaction.
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