The 21 days challenge (Part II)
(Read my blog A disorganized mind is a devil’s haven to understand my flow of thoughts in this write up)
Little successes keeps us on our toes. When we achieve a milestone, big or small, it boosts our confidence and always takes us a step higher and closer to discovering our self. Failures equally contribute in discovering our true nature but successes are more desirable for obvious reasons. So when college ended and I was inexperienced in the job market, it definitely made me question my abilities. In a world full of talents, I am not a special kid. In fact, I am one among millions who share the same idea about success and that is scary because there is only a handful of opportunities available to cater to the needs of countless relentless seekers. With infinite things to be mindful about, the popular social media messaging (SMM) applications sometimes paint a very rosy picture about people’s lives, thereby leaving us feeling more distressed. Among many others, I too fell a prey to this gambit until when I came to my own rescue.
As I have already spoken to you Readers about my not so happy experience with SMM applications during the infamous lock down of the 21st century, here I will try to communicate to you Readers about how difficult it is to let go of something that feeds our brains constantly.
One day after the night on which I decided to quit using SMM applications for good, I found myself gasping for my breath, after which I installed them back on my phone and took a sigh of relief when I scrolled through the endless posts and viewed countless number of messages. The guilt was strong, yet the mind was not ready to give it up even if that became the center of many of my problems. In such a situation, a person either stays strong and inhibits the devil that tries to mess it up, or gives in to the circumstance and surrenders helplessly like I did. The thought of quitting seemed so impossible that I kept spending days after that doing what I intended to avoid. It is rightly said that the things we want to avoid at the best haunts us the most. After grieving and nagging about my many such unsuccessful attempts at avoiding the cause of my distress, I finally challenged myself to a task. It had been a long time since college ended and I was left with little to do and that’s why my brain went haywire. So it was the perfect time to establish a milestone to achieve some peace of mind and restore back that good old self belief.
I took the widely accepted 21 days challenge. For those who are unaware of this, it takes 21 days to make or break a habit and it is not a child’s play. Hence the name. I was aware of the many number of times I had pledged and pleaded before myself to quit SMM applications, but every time I found myself beaten and defeated. Yet this time I challenged my conscience to give it another shot, because I do not believe in giving up until I have exhausted all my strength defending my reasons or if the cost benefit analysis shows no signs of hope.
The first few days were the most uncomfortable. I was desperate to know about others’ lives more than focusing on my own. As bad as it sounds, it is the truth. But this time something did not allow me to give in to the devil’s play. May be the fear of failure stopped me from being reckless or the excitement to achieve a target made me cautious, my heart had turned a blind eye to the temptations my mind weaved. As days went by, I discovered how peaceful everything was around me. I made meaningful conversations with some people, watched endless number of episodes from a few series and appreciated many movies that showed me a world within many worlds. It actually might come as a disbelief to you Readers but as I am writing this, today is the 12th day of my 21 days challenge and it is of far more importance than the last day of this challenge will be (I feel it in my gut). It holds such great importance not because of its palindromic nature, but because of the belief and confidence that makes me certain to give my all to this challenge this time. Only time will bore fruits of my consistent efforts, but it gives me immense strength to set up small milestones and achieve them on my own. The sense of satisfaction and fulfillment is unmatched by any other thing. There remains more 11 days to the D — day. Hence the next blog will either tell you Readers about my happiness or about a lesson that I taught myself. In either way, it will be a win-win.
Until next time, Readers ❤
