Each day is a new chance to make a choice on how you will embrace the 24 hours that you have; honoring what has come before but not having it dictate or derail your ambitions, hopes, and dreams. There are many ways we can wake up each day; the challenge is to experiment and find what best works for you to maximize your mindset throughout the day. Often times modifying with the seasons and current life circumstances.
Granted, it may be very difficult for some to see gratitude as their eyes adjust to the dawn of the day…peeling paint may be their only view and the thought of moving from under the very thin blanket on a cold winter day maybe overwhelming. If however, you can find a sliver of light, and acknowledge it as a hope that it can bring there is a good chance it will manifest in more positive ways throughout the day and beyond.
Many of us in this multi-screen filled world scurry to start our day, not the least bit mindful of what we are doing. So much so we lose our keys, our phones and then….it feels like our very minds are lost! We rarely break our routines unless someone else shakes them for us and then it feels like a total derailment turning a beautiful sunrise into our personal tornado.
Our tail often spins throughout the day when it starts this way; adding more and more to our to-do list then actually gets done. A to-do list where many things will never get done and don’t need to be but keeping them on the list has a perceived positive effect when in reality…it keeps us from feeling like anything was accomplished.
Consider for a moment you have just 24 hours in every day stretching across weeks, months and years to curate your life. How can you even begin to design your life when you are so busy with your to-do list and everyone else’s?
Try this!
As you awaken tomorrow morning, before even bringing your feet to the floor take just a moment to consciously inhale; raising your arms over your head, shaking off the potential chill they will invariably feel and the to-do list that is already no doubt swirling in your head. As you exhale crack open your eyes as you say something positive to yourself or better yet out loud, even if you are the only one there.
The actions and, more importantly, those first few thoughts will indeed manifest themselves throughout the day. Imagine your life as that hands-on interactive museum with many walls to adorn. How will you fill them? How will you choose what goes where and when? What type of light do you want to shine …bright or dim?
If you can, sometimes just changing your scenery will help you to curate more in your life that you want. Our routines and other’s voices real or perceived hinder us from seeing outside our box, our comfort zone. Literally take a walk in the park, try a new coffee shop or a different road to work. All the while acknowledging any thoughts that come in but letting them go. Even just a few minutes a day doing this will help you to get some calm and clarity on how you want to design your life. Even with individual limitations, we may have from family and job responsibilities to mental blocks there are opportunities to decorate your museum, your personal space more in keeping with your preferences and desires.
Susi Resner is a nature lover and tech geek. Primarily an IT Consultant, whose passion for the rainforest launched her adjunct career as a Wildlife Educator for young children. Programs follow a ‘no apps’ needed mission statement helping children embrace the world of nature sans screen. Almost anything outdoors is on Susi’s hobby list, particularly in the warmer weather. Yoga, kayaking, and movies are favorites, and of course, traveling to towns near and far, both solo and with family. Even a trip around the corner, down a different road can be an adventure!
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do then those you did, so cut off the bowlines sail away from safe harbor. Explore. Dream. Discover. ” – M. Twain