Only you can save yourself in the end because you're the one who leads your horse; your mind that is, but you shouldn't feel like changing your life is a chore and it's possible to have fun while you're at it.
In this blog you'll discover 10 fun games to change your life:
Breathe A Song In Funny Positions
Grab A Whole Carrot And Pretend To Be Bugs Bunny
Play Posh By Staying Clean, Plump And Ripe
Become A Whisperer Of The Universe
The Game Of Life
Play Rich And 'Think It, Become It'
PLAY!
'What's The Difference?' Game
Replace The 'Self-affirmation Game' With The 'Self-acceptance Game'
Play Your Own Idiol And Role Model
If you've read my recent book HERE that is to do with my story of being a survival warrior, you would come to know me as somebody who had been in turn struggling with severe anxiety for years, throughout all of which I've also suffered from depression and lack of motivation, but eventually, thanks to my stubborn will-power, I managed to reprogram and take control of my mind and taught my poor self how to overcome, or at least cope better with such unpleasant, unwanted bugs gnawing in my mind and making everyday life difficult, so here I am sharing with you my top 10 secrets, these very simple and fun tips on how I've made this dream of mine of feeling better on my own accord come true without the need for even more prescription medications. You'd be surprised how so much more powerful you are than whatever it is trying to defeat you.
Breathe a song in funny positions
Let’s get rid of the elephant in the room immediately, the biggest topic so we can breathe easy and progress with the smaller and shorter ones next at a relaxing pace, and that is having difficulty sleeping!
A great piece of little advice is to think that you’re resting instead of sleeping because the idea of napping makes you subconsciously want to sleep longer and wake up feeling refreshed. Remember how precious and snuggly like a baby you feel about yourself whenever you think of taking a nap? You can get the best sleep by thinking of sleeping as simply taking a nap, or even better to get the Sweet Dreams Bonus, while listening to something like Soothing Relaxation’s No Ads Sleep Music videos in the background, whose sounds I found are actually effective after lots of failed experiences with other kinds of mostly high-pitched and in fact more aggitating music. It’s one of the universe’s best productions that had come about. If staying asleep for 7 hours is difficult, don't worry, it takes practice and your body clock will cooperate within half a week, otherwise if that persists, we may be looking at insomnia and your doctor can prescribe you sleeping medications? Mine is Mirtazapine and, sometimes when my mind is restless the most, I simply can't sleep without it.
Last but not sleep— I mean least, you don’t have to actually tuck yourself under a blanket as long as you’re warm enough. Treat yourself, have fun and be creative. One of the best things I’ve come to do for myself this year is sleeping in boxers with my smaller pillows embracing me or supporting my back without a blanket because it feels so much more breathable as if laying down in the open air, or with only pulling the corner of it the way we dog-ear pages to mark a book section to cover a section of my body while leaving a limb hanging out like my leg, or making a star on the whole bed on an awkward, fun angle, and given I never know when my anxiety attacks strike, I also keep a little Japanese fan from Daiso by my side because breezing airflow directly into your face tickles your human brain and gently blows away the chatter in your head. Sometimes, when I have back pain after writing for prolonged hours, I sleep in a comfortable stretching position looking like a ballerina frozen in time.
My suggestion is, if possible, keep a scented candle around or incense sticks to light at night in a safe corner to soothe and loosen your tension. If you also deal with nightly panic attacks, breathe yourself to sleep in sync with the melodies of the music afroementioned because it helps quieten the noise in your head, by planning how you want to play this instrument; for example, a deep breath in counting up to three melodies, holding it for some five melodies, letting it out for another three, you do you! If you're new to or struggle with the breathing technique like I always did, you can download the adorable and simple little (FREE) A Kinder World gaming app to learn how to play this fun and relaxing game I've come to seek refuge for whenever and wherever, the little self-compassion game I open up before bed to check my daily random self-love letters sent to me by strangers and how my plant is going, with which you can also send others anonymous letters so you don't feel alone and feel a little better by making someone else feel better.
2. Grab a whole carrot and pretend to be Bugs Bunny
Munching on a raw carrot is like boxing using your teeth. It makes you feel like a vicious wolf tearing off the flesh of anxiety all together with the sharp fangs of frustration. It makes an instant boost of serotonin and focus. To add some fun into this game, see if you can actually munch on the carrot as quickly as Bugs Bunny does and giggle to your poor self; I say 'poor self' because one's forgotten self needs to be taken care of because if nobody would it withers, and it does not deserve any more self-abasing, anxieity or worries.
3. Play Posh By Staying Clean, Plump And Ripe
We need water to stay alive and this include our skin cells. The best I've ever done to myself is trying this innovational skin product I found in a mueseum in a little section to do with skin care throughout history because it really sounded like a miracle product. For me, it is. I've suffered from a hideous skin for years up until I found it when I was 27, that's when my face started to lit up and every scar healed and pimple disappeared. This product is so good that even when I was homeless for three years my face was doing much better than my body that was going skinny. It's not even expensive and I don't understand why nobody talks about it. The Aussie brand is called Thursday Plantation and they sell a whole set of their Tea Tree Clear Skin and Acne Control Kit. The entire range is formulated with 100% Pure Tea Tree Oil, a natural antibacterial that targets pimples, blemishes, blackheads & whiteheads. When I feel down, I put on their clay facemask and it reminds me of my worth as a living plant myself.
Stay hydrated, it's not rocket science, but if it's a chore to you, which it shouldn't, then simply get yourself a fun and stylish water bottle like the ones HERE that makes drinking water less of a chore and keep it around you all the time because that's what you're supposed to do as it keeps the cells of your overalls hydrated and your guts happy so they can age like fine wine (please do NOT replace water with wine like some junkie family I came across once), especially when you go out so chuck it in a stylish shoulder bag. If you feel sick or dizzy, or just need to refreshen your mind and cool your nerves like I used to do when I worked as a waiter, simply splash your face or dab it with some cold water, or if you're at home then a quick shower is the answer. Dabbing your face with water can make a quick way to remove excess oil and bacteria build up, too, so you don't need to be expensive to look after your skin either; I dab my bag or tea all over my face everytime I finish a cuppa.
Teach yourself how to floss everynight and you'll discover the big difference it makes for yourself within a week to understand why this simple task is so crucial yet so easy but it's never been hyped about, and make it habit to have a shower regularly. Shower once daily at night to feel anew and ready for the next day and don't have to clean your beddings as much if you sleep with your sweat full of unwashed bacteria. In extreme anxiety episodes, I jump for a quick rinse in the middle of the night to relax but I rinse off everything minus my hair to avoid any damage. My skin is still plump and ripe although I'm 30 simply because I've been using body lotion to listen to its needs since I was 20, wearing sunscreen on sunny days.
Another upside of bringing a water bottle with you outside, too, is that you can use it as a bidet when you're using those horrible public toilets out there for a happier experience.
4. Become A Whisperer Of The Universe
We need sunlight to bloom and thrive. The other best thing I’ve done to myself and had been knocking up my anxiety attacks with a K.O. is nature, something I realized whence I went homeless back in 2018. The smell of greenery and fresh mud after rain alone makes me feel Home. You need to feel safe again and reailze what it actually means to just... "Be", the way I do when I hang out with the pigeons and seagulls without a care in the world of any manmade troubles to do with money because worrying about what you can't yet change makes a waste of time.
Train your vitamin sun vampire. When it's sunny outside, for me that's a perfect day for some 'Knowledge and Me' time, and ice-cream, of course. It's a great habit to carry a book with you at all times so you can flick through it to relieve stress unlike scrolling on your phone. It doesn't have to be a difficult book when it comes to knoweldge. A fun book that can make you feel the same way you felt when you read comics as a child would do. Something like The Courage To Be Disliked where a philosopher and a stubborn young man argue about life or the funny little novel If Cats Disappeared from the World where a cancer patient meets the Devil who gives him more time to live as the protagonist learns more and more on what it means to actually live. Humanity thrives on curiosity and imagination.
When you go out, keep away from the noise and take a walk where there’s greenery. I find myself ending up actually skipping in a vast park sometimes like a fluttering butterfly of freedom or a baby deer, stepping on crunchy dead leaves and toying with branches and whatever I find fascinating and that’s alright, because I found out that it makes others smile too, otherwise I don’t care what others think anymore thanks to the wisdom of the philosopher in that The Courage to Be Disliked book.
Sit in a sunny corner near a shady nook so if you felt uncomfortable in your own skin, you can bath in the sun halfway the way you do in a pool of cold water in summer. I play some classic music playlist on Spotify, this is so relaxing that it sometimes ends up attracting other people to sit around alittle further away from my territory and that relieves my loneliness and reminds me that I’m not alone, too, which makes me feel real and alive, being able to be seen, liked.
The more you touch grass, the better your attitude towards the universe as a whole becomes.
5. The Game Of Life
Be useful with contribution to the collective. You will never find happiness or purpose without contributing back to community and society and that's a fact you can’t do anything about. If all you do is take and absorb, then you're going against your human instinct of thinking about creating and producing useful things of all sorts to survive. In survival games, and since the ancient times, necessity makes invention and trade.
Giving the next homeless elderly you see whatever you can will make you realise how so much better you’re actually doing, that's called gratitude, feeling lucky that you're capable, not disable, to feed yourself. This act of kindness has to be meaningfully selfless to work its magic on you. It can also be as simple as writing an anonymous letter to a community organisation to make somebody else struggling to feel valid or offering a free something such as making an artwork to support an event with a meaningful mission such as promoting advocacy for minority groups, or even free online English classes as a volunteer for refugees and all the things of that sort available all around this earth, or... you know, just smile at someone or politely make way for someone else to pass, because if it were you in their shoes, you know how compassionate this can feel in this cruel world.
You can offer lots of things to make a contribution and that even includes just being there next to somebody in silence to feel... present. For example, when I'm depressed, I ask my followers how they're doing or post something inspirational to remind them of their worth, otherwise I make blogs such as this one for free access and upload such videos to my YouTube channel because helping others to feel better returns the same feelings towards me. That's just the rule of the universe; whatever you give life you're going to get back. The golden rule of the universe, 'Do unto others you want them to do unto you.'
6. Play Rich And 'Think It, Become It'
'Don't be a defeatist. It's very middle class.' Is the best thing I've ever heard and I heard it from Downtown Abbey when I was homeless and obbssessed about wealth, because of which I survived homelessness as I started pretending that I was otherwise until I made it; fake it until you make it.
Replace ‘What could go wrong?’ With ‘What go right?’ And jump through the hoop of uncertainty on an autopilot mode when change has to happen because a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, the way I struggled in my first jobs as a waiter where I cried and made a fool of myself, which was okay because everyone sucks and at least I was brave to fight for my own future, and in the end now ended up becoming a most reliable hospitality superstar who can do just about anything in a fine-dining venue.
7. PLAY!
Feel free to do whatever you wish by embracing your inner-child to restore your vitality. Feed and laugh at the ruckus of seagulls. Skribble on paper while watching or listening to whatever also releases so much stress. Try to boop the pigeon picking at your feet. You can collect flowers, pick at tree truncks and feel their leaves. Set yourself free before it's too late, so you feel a little better if you're going to die say tomorrow night by getting hit by a bus, you never know, but we can all agree that spending that whole day worrying would have definately made such a waste of time to be alive otherwise.
8. 'What's The Difference?' Game
Reflection and contemplation is key to self-development. Self-shaming won't help you break free from the circle of anguish. Only compare yourself to your past self, not anybody else. They have other tasks of their own and you should mind your own tasks alone. For example, in comparison with my past self who was a smoker just a few months ago, I have a happier body, mind, and wallet, now I can taste food better and I haven’t been having dry mouth, my saliva is always fresh and my tongue is as ripe as cherry and I feel no remorse.
9. Replace The 'Self-affirmation Game' With The 'Self-acceptance Game'
What you need is self-acceptance not self-affirmation. Don't aim for 100 points. Life is easier when you start from zero and count up to hundred rather than the otherway around because that will only disappoint your expectations and make you hard on yourself and ends you up a perfectionist which leads to a stressful life. For example, think: 'I can pass this year with whatever I have in my capacity and can handle!' Instead of: 'I must get a full mark to make my parents proud otherwise I’m not as good enough as I aim to be.'
Another example is that when you go for a run just for the sake of it and it gets boring, then actually run as in racing with the wind, that's what I do which also trains your speed if you've been aiming to join the marathon at some point, but if that doesn't help, then that's fine, what's the big deal? You don't HAVE TO be punctual. This only makes a new and valuable lesson for you, that what you need to do is actually the opposite in such a scenario; slow down, amble and take all in with your hands behind you like a very much content grandpa with nostalgic eyes, and I promise you that you'll go back home feeling as good or maybe even better than you would by running just the same.
I admit to you without shame that, sometimes, I don't feel like running and only pushing myself makes me only feel more stressed, and that only helped me realize that it's okay to let go for a while and live a little, because, again, the idea is aiming to relax and live alittle, as long as you keep a healthy diet and make some room and time to stretch your body and excercise if you've been sitting a lot for a while; simply listen to your body. Are the bones of your bum aching? Is your empty stomaching making you feel nauseated (not hungry) just because it's actually thirsting, or more like hungering for specific nutrients like carbohydrates or fibre? Grab a carrot or munch on some green leaves like a goat, problem fixed.
10. Play Your Own Idol And Role Model
Even if you’re poor you can still eat just fine. When I was homeless, the green apple a day method must have been the reason I never fell sick.
When doing your groceries, chuck some nuts into your basket, tuna, rice, vegetables with high nutrition value, canned peaches, healthy go-to snacks... Google is your friend.
My go-to cooking advice is to chuck whatever you have together, say frying rice with tuna and broccolini, or if lazy, pouring the boiling water on your instant noodles adding corn from a can ($1) with roasted seaweed on the side (a pack of 8 makes only $5 something), to which you can add chickpeas or spring onion, too, and voila! You'll feel so proud without any regrets, and realise that the kettle is still going so you still have time to pour a complimentary dash of soy sauce to spoil yourself.
There are lots of other healthy ideas such as roasted seaweed and nuts that make the best snacks instead of chips, or how you can fill a food container with green leaves and cole slaw or black olives and corn, or feta cheese, peppered and salted, and leave it in the fridge for grabs when you don't feel like cooking. You can also be creative, like chucking muesli into the bowl of your favourite cereal with a squeeze of honey, to which you can also add your nuts or banana slices, etc.
This game doesn't just stand for food, you should be your own role model for everything you say and do in life, such as dressing yourself nicely or just starting your own To-Do-List and become your own influencer like I did for myself, making myself someone I would admire, but I want you to especially focus on having your wits about you when building interpersonal relationships on this matter.
How does the 'vibe' (reading the air) make you feel? Suffocating, or welcomed and easy? Keep away for the former and invest in the latter.
Do you feel like those around you see you in a vertical way where there is hierarchy and "I'm better than you so I pity you with encouragement" energy? Or a horizental way where all are at the same level without judgemnet when somebody saying 'Well-done' They mean what they say by actually supporting what you do and accomplish instead of just watching?
Better be alone rather than wasting time with people who won't bring positivity into your life in any shape or form or help you progress.
Conclusion
Play Parent, Friend and Family!
Parent yourself and look after it like a child of yours to grow. Just take care and watch over yourself the way you would for a pet.
Go be wise, take care of yourself, be happy, and shine like a Superstar.
I love you.
This was my first blog and I hope you can share it to raise awareness, support what I do, and help others remember they’re really not alone and that life is actually so much more fun that they think. Will be seeing you on my next blog which shall talk about starting a To-Do-List!
Til' then, be proud and forgive yourself for everything.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me: sir.musawi@gmail.com
Follow me on instagram: @yokoshima.diary where I post everything inspirational on my highlights.