Being Alone On An Island

Disclaimer: This letter requires imagination. You may want to read it while alone.

Have you ever thought about what would be the feeling of waking up on an island?

Some of us would be freezed by fear, in some, the excitement of discovery would arise and others, will meet their freedom.

The first time I've been asked this question was 2.5 years ago, when my brain just couldn't handle such a situation.

I was so rational that the questions I started to ask were:

• Nobody to talk to?
• How would I earn money?
• What if there were animals or cannibals?
• I'd go insane being lonely
• What would I eat?

Fears, anxiety and depression had me blind of what living the life in authenticity is about.

This is what may happen in your reality every single day, and the scary part is not even being aware of it. This leads us to the first point I want to discuss: fears.

My guess is all of us have experienced at least once the power of complaining.

It's basically the moment of ranting out, when the anger and stress arise, heart beats go up and then, everything suddenly concludes to you have zero chances to change anything.

We're not done yet. Your mind has the power to shape and show the reality in that way you describe it: miserable, unchangeable.

Furthermore, since we are learning through validation, the mind will unconsciously seek the ugly and bad in every action, saying, person, just to reinforce the statement of zero chances.

Lastly, don't forget the ego, it wants to always be right, thus you are prone to even fight a conversation to defend what you believe: a reality which plays against you.

I want to picture a trigger for times when you're about to complain:

• Notice the thought or the complain told
• Ask what is the inner need behind the complaint?
• What real steps could be taken right now to make things better?

The reason I picked the being alone on an island is to help you dive through fears and get closer to the things that matter to you the most .

Since fears don't exist, how could we fight them?

The answer may sound vague: inhale them back. Our mind is the only one responsible for creating them, and also capable of dissolving them.

I personally achieved this in 3 ways:

• Working the mind to cancel the fear by going through each terrible scenario what it would produce, until remains nothing else
• Went straight into the situation I was scared about (ex. when I've changed my job)
• Believed through my inner-self that it's not going to happen, as is just the exaggeration of the mind

No matter what the approach was, I struggled accepting I have to face the fear. There is no magic trick to avoid it, but it can be more gentle: relieve through positive imagination.

Back to the island

We'll do an exercise of imagination to help us find the joy and peace in a circumstance tending to be fearful. Don't just read through the words, but try to experience the ride. Feel it.

Let's start by defining the constraints:

• Money is not needed
• Nutrition is covered
• No danger would be encountered
• Island is as you wish in terms of: temperature, trees, ocean, size

Huh, that doesn't sound like constraints, right? Have you lowered your shoulders yet?

Shall we go further? You're walking on the sand, with the water on the left, and nature on the right, feeling the joyfulness of having the freedom of just wandering and observing.

For a deeper connection, you could even close your eyes and take enough time to imagine everything until you go with the next phrase.

Walk for as long as you need, then settle somewhere on the grass, under the shadow of a tree. Deeply inhale, slowly exhale. You can even cross your hands behind your head. What a simple, but yet amazing day.

While continue to breath slowly, since you have all the time and freedom in the world, what are 3 activities you want to do today?

Seek within you to discover those things you've always postponed because of the fast-paced world. Now it's on you.

Lastly, watch your feelings when practising them. Did the smile appear on your face? That a strong sign that activity is really important.

Take the time to explore this scenario for how long is needed.

Congratulations for staying alone for a bit, in complete wilderness. Wasn't bad at all, was it? This exercise just proved that our mind takes the shape we want, and if we don't think of fears, they won't exist.

For me, those 3 things were:

• Fitness
• Meditation
• Creation

Letter's quest

Along with that exercise, there is something else discovered: 3 important activities which you might not be doing.

This unlocks a new potential road that would bring you closer to a more joyful life. You only need a plan to tackle that.

Try to craft the plan with these in mind:

• If not already, where can you learn that from?
• How can you practice what you learned?
• How to earn money doing it, thus you can make a living from it

This is the very first beginning of starting a new chapter in life.

Until the next letter, I wish you success in everything you're up to!