HIDDEN GEMS

By Dr. Rabia

Daastan Publishing

First Published in Pakistan by Daastan PVT LTD

House # A-41, Madni Street, Lala Rukh, Wah Cantt, Punjab 47040

www.daastan.com

www.meraqissa.com

Text copyrights © Dr. Rabia

Book Design copyright © Dr. Rabia

The moral rights of the writer, illustrator and editor have been asserted.

All rights reserved

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or distributed in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

ISBN 978-969-696-694-4

Dedicated to my Mother who made me believe in the possibility of exploring and manifesting the hidden gems within and outside.

INTRODUCTION

“Hidden Gems” is a book written with an intention to help people of all ages to discover their true potential by creating awareness about simple yet life changing practices that can assist one in their journey towards self-actualization.

Mental health conditions like depression and anxiety are on the rise globally. This book emphasizes on the importance of taking necessary steps to protect our mental, physical and spiritual health by allowing us to form a strong internal foundation to help us combat with the unfavorable internal and external conditions.

Hardships and struggles are a part of one’s daily lives; however some people are able to recover more quickly than others. This book sheds light on some of the fundamental attributes some of which according to the ‘Positive psychology’ if learnt, could help us to recover more quickly.  By doing so, one can harness their precious energy into creating and learning things that can help us evolve and unleash our Hidden Gems.

CONTENTS

Intention

Journaling

Positive Affirmations

Mindset

Mindfulness

Meditation

Exercise and Nutrition

Toxic behaviors

Gratitude

Self-love

Kindness

Forgiveness

Perspective

Minimalism

Resilience

Grit

Passion

Purpose

Vision

Humanity

Save Earth

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INTENTION

What does it mean to live intentionally?

This question might sound very simple and basic, however taking it into consideration might completely change your perspectives about your priorities, values and what is it that you truly want in life.

Living intentionally means to be conscious of our actions and decisions and taking full responsibility of the consequences. To elaborate, it is the ‘reason’ behind anything we do with the ‘awareness’ of the immediate and delayed consequences that our actions can lead to.

In simple terms, it’s the Big WHY behind everything we do. It’s the driving force that keeps us going even when we are totally exhausted because of the awareness of the intention, direction and importance of achieving that goal.

Starting a work without knowing the intention is like driving a car without knowing the direction. Maybe this is one of the major reasons why most of us end up feeling lost at a certain point in our lives because we lose the sight of where we are headed and why we are headed in that direction.

It’s very important to keep checking our intentions since our decisions are based on these intentions. Sometimes, for immediate pleasurable consequences we intentionally take actions that can lead to devastating delayed consequences. Therefore, there is a huge need to question our daily activities because the choices that we make today will heavily determine what our future will look like.

Sometimes, we do the work with a good and right intention but the outcome is not what we expected it to be. In that case we need to figure out what went wrong. Most of the times we need to make some changes in the strategies that we applied in achieving the goal or sometimes we have to be patient and wait for the right time for our goals to be manifested. What’s important is to keep going and continue our efforts, because with right intentions and actions we can eventually achieve what we desire for.

Also many times people misunderstand our actions due to their wrong assumptions but if our intentions are pure then our heart and mind will stay satisfied no matter what. Eventually, others will also understand our intention behind our action. Even if they don’t, God will remain witness of our pure intentions. Therefore, it’s very important to filter our decisions through a sieve of values that feels right to avoid any sort of regret in long run.

What is my intention behind writing this book?

I first thought of writing this book few years ago. At that time, I was fortunate enough to come across the information that I was completely oblivious to. By using these simple techniques, my perspective about certain things began to change. Some of the tools helped me to explore my own potential while other helped me to stay persistent in difficult times.

Therefore, through this book I intend to share with you the wisdom and knowledge that has positively impacted my life, hoping that it does the same for you.

What is your intention behind reading this book?

Before you proceed, please take a moment to ponder over this question

Are you reading this book because something within you pushed you to read this book?

Or is it because deep inside, you believe there is more to you and your life?

Whatever is the reason, find out why you are reading this book. Even if you don’t have any answers in this very moment, find out how you can get the maximum benefit from it.

You have the power to take decisions for yourself and change your life for good. Hopefully, in this moment and in all the moments to come, you will take the ‘right’ decisions for yourself. Wishing you Good Luck!

 QUOTES

 “Actions are only (judged) by intentions. Each person shall be rewarded only for that which he intended.”

(Hadith~Bukhari, Muslim)

"You've got to know what you want. This is central to acting on your intentions. When you know what you want, you realize that all there is left then is time management. You'll manage your time to achieve your goals because you clearly know what you're trying to achieve in your life."  

-Patch Adams

“Intention is one of the most powerful forces there is. What you mean when you do a thing will always determine the outcome. The law creates the world."

-Brenna Yovanoff

"The more aware of your intentions and your experiences you become, the more you will be able to connect the two, and the more you will be able to create the experiences of your life consciously. This is the development of mastery. It is the creation of authentic power."

-Gary Zukav

”Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”

-William A. Foster

As long as your intentions are solid and about growth and progression and being productive and not being idle, then you're doing good in my book. Frank Ocean

“Our intention creates our reality.”

-Wayne Dyer

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JOURNALING

What is Journaling?

Journaling is a great way to express what you are truly feeling, without the fear of being judged. Doing so can help release a lot of stress and anxiety. Research shows that journaling could help improve our mental health and wellbeing.

One of the effective ways to do so is to ‘analyze’ our feelings and responses and situations or triggers that lead to those emotions and actions. Feelings are natural and should not be suppressed or negated. Instead it is important to become aware of our feelings and identify the root cause of it. Once we know from where those feelings are emerging, we can try to work on the problem.

It’s true that the situations and people are not often under our control but we can definitely work on the way we choose to respond to a situation.

Some people also keep a Gratitude journal where they enlist all the things they are blessed with. It is a great way to start your day with a humble and grateful heart attracting more blessings into your life.

It is also one of the most successful techniques to help us keep a track of any particular goal that we want to achieve in our life. Writing down our strategy on a paper can bring a lot of clarity about what, why and how we are going to manifest a particular goal.

Take notes of your daily progress in the area you are interested in getting better at. Identify the barriers that are coming between you and your goal. It could be a small problem that you are facing but if it is hindering your growth then it needs to be addressed.

For e.g.  You were attending the class today and a question came in your mind but you were not able to ask it from your teacher. Now this is a problem because it stopped you from asking the question and getting clear about the concept that confused you. So write down this problem in your journal and dissect it so that you can figure out the cause and the solution to this problem e.g.

Problem? I was not able to ask a Question in class.

Why? I lack confidence.

How can I overcome this problem? Maybe I can start it from a low level and gradually get better at this e.g. by writing down all the questions in a notebook and asking those questions in person from the teacher at the end of the class.