26 - The first 30 minutes

How do I begin my day? Once I get out of bed, what do I do to start off on the right foot?

I feel that the first 30 minutes really set the tone for the day. If I wake up and am rushed, my day will feel chaotic and crazy. If I scroll through social media, I feel anxious and tense. When I am able to have my preferred morning ritual, I do better. It doesn’t mean that difficult things don’t happen, it’s just that I am more able to handle them.

I have said that my life used to feel like I was in an innertube, floating down a river. If things were calm, I was calm. If things were tumultuous, I was stressed. I didn’t navigate my way through my days, I just reacted to what was happening around me. It was frustrating to feel that I had no control over what was happening to me. 

What’s worse, when I started trying to guide my days, unexpected things would pop up that threw me into a tailspin. Like a leaf caught in a whirlpool, I would just spin around and around and around until I was exhausted. 

See? Even when I try to control my days, my life is a mess! What is the point of even trying?

“Control” really is the operative word here. I was trying to control something that cannot and will not be controlled. That is what I was doing wrong. 

I think by now, if you have read all of my posts, it would be pretty obvious that the words ‘control freak’ have been thrown around to describe me. That used to offend me. I was only trying to make things run smoothly. But really, I can see now, I was just trying to make everything perfect. And it can’t be perfect. 

The only thing in life that can be counted on, 100%, is that things will change. These good days I am experiencing? They will go away. So stop and appreciate them. By the same token, these bad days I am experiencing? They will go away too. So stop and acknowledge that it won’t be like this forever. 

Life is a yin and yang, up and down, ebb and flow of moments and emotions and memories. That’s ok. 

Recently, a really bizarre thing happened to me and I asked my friend, “What are the odds of that happening??” To which she replied, “To you? 100%!!”

That should make it pretty obvious that crazy things are still happening. Unexpected things still invade my day. There’s no way to stop that. I can minimize it by choosing not to be involved in as many things, but there will still be some curveballs that come my way. There will still be chaotic times. 

So what has changed? Me.

How was I able to change? Starting the day off on the right foot. 

Whatever I put into my brain at the beginning of the day, that is what I think about throughout the day. Other thoughts come in, songs are on ‘repeat’ that I can’t stop. Those are still there, they will probably never go away. But the spaces in between those invasions, the ones I can’t control, are pockets of space that I can control. Listening to positive speaking has helped me to look at things in a more hopeful light. Instead of constantly searching for the negative, I’m training my brain to look on the bright side and find joy. Or, at the very least contentment, grace and/or understanding.

I could tell you what I do and what I listen to at the start of each day, but I have discovered that those things are personal. The inspirational song that hits my heart may not speak to you in the same way. The motivational speeches and Ted Talks that I listen to may not motivate you in the same way. The way I spend time with my creator or meditating may not be as effective for you.

What I do want to say is this: think about it and then just do it!

I started with listening to a song. I listened to it every day to lift me and bring joy to my morning. That one song turned into many songs. That turned into mini sermons that turned into whole sermons. That turned into Ted Talks. That turned into inspirational speeches. 

Like a living thing, my morning routine is constantly changing a little bit, adding or subtracting as needed. I have a playlist that I go through, sometimes listening to the same things, for so many days that I have it memorized. Other times I switch things up and listen to something new. Or something I saved because it felt important, but I didn’t watch until now. 

I don’t think about it too much, or else I would be frozen and not do anything. I just start and go where it leads.

Everything I do contributes overall to my mental, spiritual and physical health: the activities I choose to do, the food I put into my body, and the things I listen to. 

So I am intentional about starting my day with purpose. I encourage you to do the same.