Back to Life by Soul II Soul

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

So as regular readers will know, this year has not been a normal one for me. Apart from the coronavirus lockdown, I’ve also had the passing of both my parents, with my Mum’s funeral being last week. So, I had this week marked as a fresh start. Back to Life, if you will, a classic track from Soul II Soul from my childhood.

Whilst the song, on the surface, is about the possibility of a new relationship, it also has a deeper message of learning to live in the now:

Back to life back to the day we have. Let’s end this foolish game.

It’s something I’ve been thinking about as I try to ‘re-start’ my year. It’s also been in my thoughts as I’ve been listening to an audio book The Science of Daily Self-Discipline thinking about the small choices I make every day.

What comes across in the book, and in the song, is that it’s easy for us to put things off to some undefined better time in the future. So, we convince ourselves we are heading towards our goal or dream, but in reality we are just procrastinating or daydreaming.

Back to life, back to the present time, back from a fantasy.

It’s made me think about the excuses I provide myself for not getting up on time, not having my daily quite time, exercising or allowing myself to drift through the day not really being productive. I concluded:

Need a change, a positive change … Hear me out don’t let me waste away.

Not that any of the things I just mentioned are bad, and I certainly needed a bit of time being easy on myself to process all that’s happened this year and too allow myself some rest. But, it’s the recognition that there is also the time to get your head in the game (sorry, the girls having been playing High School Musical again!). And so far, only three days in admittedly, it’s felt good. I’ve been getting up, having some quite time and exercise and then being able to start my day with a planned schedule of my intended achievements for the day. It’s also made me feel that by the time I get to the weekend, I can take it easy for a couple of days again.

So, rather unexpectedly, I’ve once again discovered the benefits of self-discipline to my wellbeing. I already feel like I’ve made progress in moving forward rather than just wading water. Plus, it’s meant I’m sleeping much better at night. So perhaps, one of the key rediscovered life skills is a form of measured self-discipline which can help bring you and your dreams back to life.

Need to reconsider your relationship with self-disicpline? Why not consider booking an appointment with the author, Dr Dave Wood?Book an appointment

Taken from the album: