How to Start Your Day on a Positive Note, Deal With Stress and Stay Empowered
When you woke up this morning, what was your first thought? That is of course between you and you.How about becoming aware of how you start your day. Won't you then set yourself up to have a better one? Now I know we aren't perfect. So we will have those complete bulldoze days where we just can't pull ourselves out of.However starting with awareness of which direction our thoughts are trailing in, is the beginning to practice changing course.My morning was a little upside down. Some my own fault, some well, lets say you can't control everything. I had to wake up an hour earlier. Keep in mind, the clocks just turned and hour forward, so it's actually 2 hours earlier than usual. My husband was looking for a shirt, I then realized I forgot to pick up the dry cleaning. And believe you me, he loves the traditional pure thick cotton shirts which are a nightmare to iron! Asking him to attempt ironing his shirt will end with him wearing a shirt that looks like he pulled it from the laundry basket. Hence, I swallow the hit of $2 shirt at the dry cleaners.With sleep in my eyes and a drunken walk to the laundry to iron his shirt, I opened the back door for my dog, Pepsi to go and do her business, upon hearing the garbage collection. Low and behold hubby didn't put out the trash. Now I can't go off at him, I have just been at fault forgetting to pick up the dry cleaning!Deep breaths, deep breaths... In and Out, In and out.With a smile on my face I handed him his shirt, when Pepsi came running in covered in mud and... I would rather not say what else, nor describe the stank. She escaped through the back fence. We have a hill/farm land green behind our house. Obviously she made use of the opportunity to roll in the first lovely smell she could find.I swooped her up and plonked her in the tub.My husband and I skipped having breakfast together with all this commotion. He went off to work with an empty tummy. While I run a bath for Pepsi.With the dog clean, I decided to just pause and slow down... my thoughts where of course racing in all directions. Whilst pausing I noticed Pepsi's face. Her ears pulled back, eyes watery, filled with remorse and guilt. I just melted, and smiled...I decided to stop rushing, being late for my meeting is not the end of the world. Trying to rush will just make me clumsy and in turn take longer to finish things and have me turn up at my meeting annoyed, angry and embarrassed for being late. With that mindset you might as well not have the meeting at all. So I postponed my meeting.With some time free'd up I made breakfast and decided to have it outside. I took my time whilst sipping my tea and baking in the light rays of the morning sun. Do you know how much extra time that took? To sip my tea, instead of gulping? A mere 5 minutes.How did I feel after doing so? Relaxed, positive and ready for the day. As if the mornings havoc disappeared!When we find ourselves in a spin, however big or small it may be. Just pause... slow down... it's never as bad as it seems at first instance. The same for your morning. When you are running late, starting to feel that stress and irritation build up. Just pause.Clock Watching won't change it. Being another 5 minutes late won't make a world of difference as you are already running tight on time. But pausing will. It will make you think twice before shouting at the kids when you are to blame for running late. It will stop you from making further clumsy mistakes as you are not thinking clearly. And it will change the path of your day!So next time you find yourself in a morning where one thing after the next goes wrong and your blood start to boil. Do you think you have a few minutes to pause... just slow down and let those feelings go. If it means taking a moment to play your favorite song. Having your morning tea sitting down, sips by sip... instead of gulp by gulp... or taking a moment to give your kids a nice long hug...I guarantee you, your day will change for the better.
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