Happy Tuesday, everyone! Whew! Monday is gone. Thank goodness. Mondays always feel so long, don't they? It's like the day that doesn't stop, even though it's really just a twenty-four-hour day like every other. Anyway, welcome to Tuesday! Today, I'm gonna talk about a quote I read on Instagram from
@in_gratitude_tv (you can click their name to give them a follow—I highly recommend you do) that I liked a lot. It resonated with me. Why? Well, grab your coffee, or tea, and let's chat about it.
Here's the quote I'm referring to:
This is true no matter who you are. As soon as you open your eyes, you either allow your brain to flood with dread or hope for the following hours you'll be awake and living life. You can either look for the bad things coming during the day, or you can focus on the positive.
Trust me, I've been in some of the most horrifying situations imaginable, and I never lost my positive outlook because I
chose not to.
Every day's feeling is a choice, and the decision about how you're going to handle it lies in your hands. Yes, each and every day. As an author, I can wake up and think about that negative review, dwell on it, let it worry me, and let it drag my spirits through the mud, or I can think about those positive reviews, let them lift me up, embrace them, and let those words fuel me through another day.
It's my choice.
If I have difficult things to navigate through outside of author life, I can either choose to allow them to overwhelm me, or I can think about how to slay them, turn them around and make them work for me.
For several years, I battled the lowest of lows. I'm sure many of you wake up and feel like the day is crap and all you want is for it to end. The mindset spoken of in the quote is how I pulled myself out and allowed myself to be a happier human being.
With me, I had this habit of staying in bed after my alarm and wallowing in all the negative things I saw in the day ahead, dwelling on my past mistakes, dreading what the day would bring. I turned it around by making myself leap (yes, an actual
leap) to my feet and instantly giving thanks for all the things I had. I focused on one thing I was looking forward to that day and was grateful to have the ability to learn something new. Then, I gave myself "me" time, of one hour, to drink coffee and do something I enjoyed without thinking about anything else. That meant I had to get up an hour before anyone else in my house, but it worked. I wasn't stressed by the time I saw people because I'd started my day for ME.
Now, it's a natural act. I don't even have to think about being grateful; I'm filled with gratitude instantly.
I still carve out my time every morning (no matter what) because I know I need to do that in order to be the best me I can be.
Guess what else? No one gave it to me. I had to take it. With five (small) children at home, being a full-time student (22 hours a semester) that maintained a 4.0 GPA in one of the most difficult programs at my college, being the primary care-giver (also, maintenance man, lawn person, etc...) for my household, and dealing with a ton of medical crap, I still made it happen. You can, too.
Here's my task for you today (if you're not doing this already): Find out what that "thing" is that will start your day off right, and figure out how to make it happen for you. Make it happen each and every morning.
Find your happy. Take it. Choose what kind of day you're going to have.
Do you do any of this? What's your morning thing?
Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!
Jo
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