Dealing with the “Off Days” in Life

Some days, I don’t feel like writing at all.

On other days, the sound of my fingers dancing across the keyboard gives wings to my imagination. Ideas erupt in my mind even as I concentrate on the sentences at hand. I can see the finish line even before I have completed the first paragraph.

The mind is a pretty unique thing, and it’s sad that we don’t appreciate it enough.

It is the beginning and the end of creation. It is where ideas take nascent steps before going on to change the world.

The mind is productive, innovative, a storehouse of the impossible, because thoughts are not bound by the limits of the material world. Inside your mind, you could do anything, go anywhere.

You could be sitting quietly at the top of the Himalayas. You could be eating Mutton Rogan Josh at Dastarkhwan. Manchester United could be winning day in and day out.

The mind is extremely powerful, but quite vulnerable too. And like everything beautiful, the mind needs to be taken care of as well.

It is something most of us aren’t accustomed to. We are never told, or taught, to cultivate our thoughts. To nurture the positives that help us grow, and to ensure that we don’t dwell on the negative for too long.

We are rarely told that it is okay to have an off day, to not want to do things that you normally love doing.

Off days are important too

On those grey days, when doing feels right or nothing seems to work, it is easy to believe that you are simply wasting your time. That nothing good will ever happen, that none of your dreams will come true.

You will be surprised to know how many people feel the same.

Yet, even on days when you feel you are not doing anything, your mind is active. It is processing instead of producing. There are no zero days; what is lacking is a visible output. An active mind never goes idle; even when resting, it is assessing and adding to your subconscious.

Off days are an opportunity for your mind to recharge and rejuvenate, and it is important for us to acknowledge that. That is the secret to taking care of your mind.

Because on days when everything works, your mind is also reverting to the ideas you crafted on your off days, the ones you are oblivious to.

In many ways, this is how life works as well.

When you win, you gather accolades and pick up experience. When you lose, you suffer and also gather up experience. Your experiences, both good and bad, craft your future.

Nothing is wasted if you are willing to learn.

Of course, it is clear as daylight that today, as I write, my mind is having a field day. It has taken over my fingers and is orchestrating them. The pitter-patter of the keyboard fills up the room, an enchanting music that captivates my senses and carries me to the Writers’ Nirvana.

It could be entirely different tomorrow, and that’s what makes life beautiful.