No-regret decisions

Wouldn’t it be cool if we could make the right decisions in important areas of our life? Decisions on which we could look back 20 years from now and feel no regret.

Majority of people do not make right choices in their lives because they simply do not know how. It was never taught in school. It is natural in this state of confusion to turn towards other people. But other people also don’t know. In this situation, we look for short term pleasures, quick fixes, and avoidance of immediate suffering.

Whom should be listen to and turn towards to make the right choices?

Actually, no one.

I mean no one outside of yourself. The essential ingredient you need to make right decisions is stillness. Stillness in body and mind. It allows your inner being to whisper your heart’s longing. Intuition. Our inner self knows what we should do at any point in our lives. But without deep silence it is impossible to distinguish between intuition and our mind's chatter.

So, how are we going to be deeply still and listen to our intuition?

Our body is controlled by our brain. Our brain is controlled by our mind. Our mind is controlled by our inner-self (soul). If we turn towards our inner-self, it will make our mind quiet, quite quickly to be honest.

The easiest tool for turning towards our inner-self is breath. It is the bridge between body-mind and our core inner self. When we listen to our breath we are allowing our soul to find expression. The first thing you will notice is that your mind will become quiet and peaceful as our soul controls the mind when we give attention to it. This may take 5-10 minutes of breath watching. You just have to watch the breath without trying to regulate it. At this point, ask a simple and clear question in your mind (e.g. should I apply for this job?). Wait for the answer to come. If you do not hear anything, keep watching the breath for a few minutes more. The answer will come once the mind is sufficiently quiet.

How will you know if it is your heart’s longing or your mind’s chatter? When our inner being speaks, it has a feeling of joy, confidence and wholeness attached with it. Often times the first thought that comes after the mind is silent is from our inner-self. You will know it.

This method works. Try it every day for 30 days. You will develop a new relationship with your true inner-self. Like any relationship, more regular you are in your practice, more fruits it will bear.