I Didn’t Know A Cup of Matcha Could Alter the Course of My Life
The new purpose of life: Not to put joy on hold for that ONE FINAL DAY
I tried to start this article in five different ways. I wrote 100 words just to find them boring and bland. It’s very rare that I cannot find the exact words that align with my true thoughts. In fact, most of the time, the most perfect words flow from my laptop creating a string of sentences that is better than my original thought. Almost as if my soul came out of my body and wrote it all down.
But then there are times when I find myself challenged to find the words that I can feel itching in my bones but somehow, I end up glaring at the screen. Today is one such occasion.
Do you know why?
Because my emotions are much stronger and words can never do justice to them.
That emotion, if I have to specify it, is love.
The abundance of love flows in my heart like deep waves in the ocean dancing under the bright sunshine. Like I am the happiest person in the whole world and little busts of magic are brightening up my body from inside. Like there is a world so soft and deeply grounded inside me that for a minute or two, I feel I am completely detached from this world.
It’s not because I am in love with someone or someone has fallen in love with me making me realize how amazing, interesting, funny, pretty, and smart I am. (God, it’s not a typical romance novel)
The love I am feeling is towards my life. The one thing that is mine to make as however I want it to be.
The Sudden Mindset Shift:
What are you waiting for to enjoy life?
I fell in love with life deeply and hopelessly back in 2022. I don’t know how it happened but somehow, I started waking up with a peaceful mind, my coffee started tasting sweet like it was a drop of scared water from the hills of a different world, I felt more connected to my work, I found myself dancing in my room like I am nominated for the ‘author of the year’ award, every book I read sounded deliciously interesting, I started looking forward to enjoying a cup of tea over gossip with my mother, I observed ancient houses in my city that I never knew existed, and my nights felt calm and soothing like I am happy to be where I am and I won’t exchange this feeling for the world.
How did that happen?
Honestly, I don’t think there was one simple hack or so-called technique that changed my perspective towards life. I believe, if I look back, I have always been the person who hated where she was.
When I was in school, I was studying hard to get into a good college. I never really enjoyed school because I had plans to follow. When I was in college, I was always in my room on my laptop looking for opportunities I could seize. When I was doing my job, I hated it and was always looking for openings in another company. Then when I started freelancing, I hated myself for not being able to get clients.
Almost as if I was running a race against life. My motto could be described as: ‘I will resent everything I ever get to achieve something I know I deserve in my mind.’
Then what happened that changed my ‘hate’ to ‘eternal love’ towards life?
If I have to sum it up, I will say:
“There comes a point in your life when you feel tired and exhausted. You know you cannot run any longer. You realize you were running away from yourself all this time. Now, you want to feel peace. You want to come back home to yourself. You want to take a pause, turn around, and walk on the path that feels calmer and aligned with your soul.”
My turning point was back somewhere between 2021 to 2022. I was tired. I was mentally, emotionally, and physically depressed. I knew I couldn’t do this any longer. I tried to be successful. I tried to make it big in the world. I tried to follow every hack, technique, every book, every podcast and I was honest and I didn’t use or manipulate anyone. Yet, it wasn’t happening to me. So, I decided to pause, turn around, go back, and start again.
But this time, I knew my priority was peace. I knew deep within my soul that I could not spend another day hating my life. I wanted stability.
With this new goal in my mind, I began again. I won’t claim that just when I started again, life became beautiful. But gradually, it did.
How?
Instead of calculating my worth based on my to-do list, I started doing things that spoke to my heart.
For example: I learned multiple skills just because I wanted to like crocheting, knitting, cooking, and many more such simple skills that have nothing to do with my career but doing them reminds me how little joys are always around the corner. Not only that, I started to do the same things differently just to add a pinch of fun and excitement like going for evening walks but with a mission, known only to me, to explore the streets of my city where I never went. During these walks, I got to see my own town in such a new light. I noticed houses that were probably built in the 80s and to date, spoke the language of a world that I feel nostalgic for.
It made me realize, I don’t have to change my life to enjoy it. I just have to change the way I show up in my life.
How did I do that?
Find Your ‘MATCHA’:
I have always been a scary creature. Before trying anything new, I wonder ‘What if it doesn’t work out?’
This one thought held me back from trying so many things I wanted to but was too scared to japrodize anything.
Last year, I went to Delhi, India, and had a cup of strawberry matcha. It was so good that I wanted to shift to Delhi just so I could have that every day. When I came back to my hometown, I decided to order a pack of matcha and try different styles of making it. Just the thought of it sent a thrill to my brain.
However, on Amazon’s website, I found myself thinking ‘But what if it doesn’t taste as good? What if I cannot make it as good and then it would be such a disappointment?’
After several days when I came across a YouTube video on how to make five different types of matcha at home, I decided to order it without thinking.
Till now, I have tried 10 different kinds of matcha at home. 6 of them were not good. But four of them have my heart. In fact, just yesterday, I invented a new kind on my own. I added black coffee, cocoa powder, matcha, milk, and ice cubs. Upon my word! It was the most delicious drink I ever had in my entire life.
But wait, why am I telling you this?
Because when I try to make a new kind of matcha, I feel excited. When I tasted that last recipe I just told you, I was in bed at night. I had a book in my hand and matcha in the other. In this absolute silence, every drop of it tasted not only delicious but also like a blessing from heaven.
Trying a new type of matcha, saving the recipes, and muttering the steps as I make it at home as if I am making a YouTube video for my invisible audience is one of my ways to find excitement in my ordinary life.
And now I am asking you to find your ‘matcha.’ Find something that you have been wanting to give a try for a long time but either you didn’t have time or maybe you were too scared to ruin it. Ask yourself ‘What’s something new you would like to try’ and without another self-limiting thought, give it a go.
You will never regret doing something you wanted to even if the outcome isn’t what you expected. But with a broken hip at 80, it will be harsh to regret all the ways you could have enjoyed life but didn’t because well...
Nothing has to be perfect or professionally learned for you to enjoy it. Unlike what we have all learned from movies, no sudden change awaits you to start enjoying life. Life remains mundane. It won’t be anniversaries or birthdays every day. Before you can enjoy weekends, you will have five mundane weekdays.
You need to make life enjoyable, thrilling, and exciting for yourself so you don’t spend the majority of your life at the mercy of big-grand days.
Find your matcha. Find it, and taste it every day like you are lucky to be alive and do something that makes you excited and joyful. It doesn’t have to be big. It just has to come from inside you. Maybe you start learning how to knit like you always wanted to or maybe you take that baking class during weekends. Maybe you take a trip closer to your city and realize the earth is beautiful everywhere not just in Italy.
It’s all on you. You have to find little pockets of excitement in your day-to-day life or the big storm of worries will find you. Choice, however, will remain yours.
Conclusion: Make Matcha For The Day
My love affair started with life when I stopped waiting for good things to happen to me. Instead, I started doing good things in my daily life and somehow, I was less on social media and more indulged in real life.
My matcha was not only trying new kinds of it, but it started with going for evening walks around my city and noticing my town with new eyes. It started with drinking coffee in the morning with no hurry, just sipping it slowly while sitting under the sunshine coming from my window. It started with looking at the big tree outside of my terrace and wondering why birds were dancing around it.
Today, my matcha was to sit and write this article as it rained and little drops of coffee touched my lips — making me realize how unbelievably lucky I am to be alive and do what brings joy to my heart.
Now, it’s on you. Ask yourself what will be your matcha for the day.
Start with one cup aka honoring one desire, and gradually increase the dose of your matcha as you also find yourself falling in love with your life.
Maybe if you ask yourself ‘What will be my matcha of the day?’, you will give yourself the chance to make something good happen to you. Maybe you will feel more alive and connected to your life. Maybe you will increase your participation in your life.
In the end, that’s the whole point, to be actively present in your life. Isn’t it?
For more, you can read my book: The Magic of Creative Living.
A Recipe of Matcha for You:
Concluding this article, I want to give you a simple recipe for matcha. Sit back, think about these ingredients, and question yourself, ‘How can you make a good cup of matcha out of this for yourself?’
- Get an empty cup aka pick a time of the day which generally makes you feel anxious or bored. It could be the early morning hours or the mid-afternoon. Whatever time, you may feel most bored at, pick this time.
- Question yourself: ‘What did I always want to do but never did because I was too busy, too less, too stupid to try?’ It could be anything. As small as exploring a new park in your city or as big as starting a new skill to someday turn it into a business. Whatever. Think about it, and let it fill your lungs with excitement.
- Combine the above two ingredients and allow yourself to taste your matcha. If you know, you know.
Let me know, what you make out of it.
