Zen Michael Stories - Super Pack 10 Books: Discover mindfulness for beginners and ways to reduce stress and anxiety

By Zen Michael

This Pack joins 10 books of the Stories collection written by Zen Michael.

Use it to save and read more stories that will help you find joy and peace

These are the 10 books included in this pack:

[ BOOK 1 ] - DON’T TRY TO BE “NORMAL” - THE WORLD NEEDS YOU TO BE YOURSELF
Let’s break the vicious cycle of trying to be like others

[ BOOK 2 ] - LEARN TO MANAGE YOUR EMOTIONS
The first step is to accept what you feel

[ BOOK 3 ] -  2020 MINDFUL BALANCE: HOW I EVOLVED INSIDE
A personal assessment of my path to a better life

[ BOOK 4 ] - HOW WE CAN STOP CREATING MORE “PROBLEMS” FOR OURSELVES
Use awareness to create no more problems, no more pain

[ BOOK 5 ] - 7 REASONS WHY WE NEED TO CELEBRATE MORE OFTEN
Don’t miss any chance to celebrate your small wins

[ BOOK 6 ] - WHY YOUR BEST FRIEND IS NOT A PROBLEM SOLVER
A true friend gives us much more than solutions

[ BOOK 7 ] - HOW SOMEONE CAN BE YOUR FRIEND BY NOT CONTACTING YOU
An unusual lesson on friendship and kindness

[ BOOK 8 ] - 7 THINGS YOU WILL LOSE IF YOU DON’T LEARN TO REALLY LISTEN TO OTHERS
Active listening is crucial to understand the message

[ BOOK 9 ] - LEARN THE MEANING OF EMPTINESS
Mindfulness will show you that emptiness is not nothing

[ BOOK 10 ] - MINDFULNESS IS LIKE EATING - YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY DO IT TO GET THE BENEFITS
In the long run all it requires is practice

Use this economic pack to save and read more inspirational stories wrritten by Zen Michael.

Remember you can always find peace and joy — just look inside yourself.
Zen Michael

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zen Michael
• Release date: Feb 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9791220260756

Book preview

[ BOOK 1 ]

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Don’t Try To Be Normal - The World Needs You to Be Yourself

Let’s break the vicious cycle of trying to be like others

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Photo by Rodion Kutsaev on Unsplash

If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be. — Maya Angelou

This phrase expresses very well how a good part of our lives ends up being wasted. How much of our life is spent trying to be normal? How much effort do we make to be like others?

How many of our tears are filled with the anger and sadness we feel at not being able to be like others? How many of the people we know look like copies of each other?

Why we want to be like others

Much of this effort is the result of our education and the socialization process that we go through as we grow up. As children, we discover how the world and people work. At this stage, we believe that what we see and what we are told is the way things really are.

In the process of integration in our culture, in our socialization, this mechanism is reinforced. We are encouraged to try to be like others. We think that that is the way to be recognized, to be accepted, to have value, and to have friends.

This is what the culture in which we live, the education system, and our family experience — in most cases — transmits to us. This is what we are going to internalize. With great costs for everyone.

The cost of being normal

Although this is a process full of good intentions, the results — in most cases — are not positive, either for the individual or for society.

The cost to the individual

On the individual level, this process of standardization, of excessive harmonization, ends up suffocating the real personality of each one and can create a feeling of constant dissatisfaction.

Some are luckier. Sometimes the pressure from society to be in a certain way coincides with their individual interests and needs, and in that case, the fulfillment of their needs and desires ends up happening.

Others are also fortunate to be born in more open social groups and families that encourage them to follow their wishes, even when these do not coincide with what is socially acceptable.

These success stories clearly exist and deserve to be recognized and praised. However, they are a minority.

The cost to society

On the community level, this process has many negative effects. In addition to the natural effects of individual dissatisfaction in society, the loss is felt mainly in the waste of resources and in the lack of creative solutions.

In a society that faces increasingly complicated problems, we need to find new ways to solve them. But, to discover these alternative solutions, we need people who know how to think for themselves and who can put their original ideas at the service of the world.

However, the