Who Will You Allow Yourself To Be Today?
How to reclaim your agency and choose gratitude, even when the world is trying to distract you
I know the scenario well: You wake up, look at the time, or maybe your alarm has woken you, you let out a sigh, and reluctantly swing your legs over to the ground and get up.
You reach for the coffee, hoping it will give you an ounce of energy. Then jump in the shower, counting on it to wash away your tiredness and mild dread of the upcoming day.
Like a robot you get dressed, and maybe grab a quick bite to eat, before you head out into the world, armed with nothing but annoyance and reluctance.
If you’re lucky your commute goes well, if you’re not, ugh, more frustration.
Life can seem pretty dull when we respond to the outside world or rely on it to govern our mood.
For years I lived this life.
Heck, I still do sometimes. But it’s the minority of the time now.
I’ve learned so much over the years about personal power, and how we can use our innate power to direct the course of our lives.
We do not have to give away our agency to outside events.
We do not have to let traffic decide if we have a good day or bad day.
Or a boss in a bad mood,
Or the weather.
Or a million other things.
We can choose to start our day in a way that gives us control and choice.
We are not robots.
We are human beings.
But when we let outside circumstances control our days, we cede our power and become human doings.
Kinda like robots.
I’d like to inspire you to choose your own mood; to create your own day; to rule your own life.
When you choose to go down this path, you’ll find more freedom then you ever realized existed.
Here’s a few things you can do:
Before you reach for your phone to check your messages or doomscroll, take a few deep breaths. Long inhale, then a longer exhale. Repeat 3 or 4 times. This sends a signal to your nervous system that you are safe and all is well.
Choose gratitude. Upon waking, decide that you will find three things to feel grateful for. Our brain looks for what it expects to find. If you fall back into thinking the day will suck, then the brain will find evidence of that. But if you decide to look for reasons to feel grateful, the brain will start to look for evidence of that.
Reframe your thinking of your day: Instead of “I have to go to work” change it to “I get to solve someone’s problem” or “I get to be the reason someone smiles” or “I get to make a difference today”. Find one that works for you, and reframe away!
If you have time, and I highly recommend this, spend 10 to 15 minutes meditating. You may have to wake up a bit earlier to do this. Meditation helps with reducing stress and is a proactive way to take control of the narrative of your day. “Proactive” may seem like a strange way to describe sitting with your eyes closed and quieting your mind, but that’s exactly what it is.
This isn’t just a quick and temporary fix.
This is a change of ritual. This is you reclaiming sovereignty over your emotions. This is you directing the course of your life.
Bad things will still happen, but how you respond to them, will completely change.
You will develop more strength, resilience, peace and confidence, and then…
The world will take notice, and the colour of it will completely change for you.
That is, if you give yourself permission to decide who you want to be today.
Thank you for reading!
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The way we start the day is so important, that deliberate shift makes so much difference.