Waking Up with Positivity

Do you ever feel like your day just starts off hard? Like you keep waking up on the “wrong side of the bed?” And the rest of the day seems to snowball? You’re rushing to get out of the house on time, between making breakfast, prepping lunch, getting everyone dressed and out the door. Then you spill your coffee, the car needs gas, the kids are fussing. You get to work a few minutes late and the rest of the day feels like you can’t catch up. It carries into the night and when your head finally hits the pillow you are exhausted, a little sad, and frustrated by the day. Only to wake up and have the same thing happen the next day!

How do we break this cycle? How do you wake up with positivity?

• First thing, STOP! Take a pause and a deep breath.

• Then, before you go to bed, make a choice. Choose to find gratitude in the seemingly mundane. This is easier than you might think. Ask yourself:

  • What are you grateful for?

    • a healthy family

    • a steady job

    • access nutritious foods

    • time with friends

    • exercise (yoga, hiking, surfing…)

    • your hobbies (writing, drawing, cooking, macrame, reading…)

• It’s a mindset. You get to decide how you respond to life. Do you want to respond feeling run down and frustrated? Or do you want to respond with gratitude and a smile. Even when the coffee spills, because it still might, can you smile instead of curse? When your child doesn’t want to get dressed and you’re feeling the time crunch, can you make space for a hug and a deep breath with your child to help them (and you) to reset? Notice if you are in reaction mode and see if you can start to respond instead.

• Make more time if you are always rushed. Have your morning drink ready to go. Prep lunches the night before. Know what you are going to make for breakfast. Set out your clothes and your kids outfits for the next day. Get your bag ready for work. Take 15 extra minutes before you go to bed to plan for the next day. Those few minutes will save you time and stress the next day.

• Go to bed with gratitude. Write it down. Share what you are grateful for with your partner.

• Wake up a little bit earlier. Waking even 10-15 minutes earlier can help you start your day with ease.

• Make time for movement or meditation or both. Get into your body and clear your mind.

Why am I writing about this this week? Because it is a practice that I have had to put back into motion. Life can get overwhelming if we let it. Personally, I can feel exhausted from daily life. And I am tired of feeling like I am in conflict with my partner, that I have no patience for my daughter, and exhausted with an infant. So the other night, tired and a little cranky, laying my head on the pillow, I turned to Matias and said, “Can we choose to start over in the morning?”

I don’t want to talk about who did or didn’t take the garbage out, or make lunches, or supported each other the way we could have. I don’t want to talk about who stays up more at night with the baby or complain about how much work we have tomorrow. I just want to start fresh tomorrow. We will both commit to helping each other. We commit to communicating our needs more clearly, in the moment and with compassion. We live in a magical place. We have designed our lives and our businesses to fill our days with our gifts and passions. We are grateful for our incredible children, even when life challenges our patience. We are grateful that no matter what life throws at us, that we know, under it all, how strong our love is for each other.

We have so much to be grateful for. We all do. Even when life is hard, most of us live a very privileged life. Please don’t take the day to day for granted. Many people do not have a life of ease as we do. When we are grateful for all that we have, it turns our negative mindset into positivity. And that is infectious. You smile more. You feel lighter and are able to radiate that sense of positivity outwards to your family and community.

Sometimes there are changes that need to be made. Work that needs to be done. AND…you can make changes and do the work while maintaining your sense of gratitude and therefore positivity. In the past couple of days, since committing to a more positive mindset, I already feel lighter. I am able to handle life’s challenges with a bit more ease and the day to day doesn’t feel quite so draining.

So, I ask you to wake up with positivity and see how your life transforms.

Sending love and gratitude,

Loren