Often I wake up feeling kinda okay, kinda blah. Ritual sometimes helps, so I make my coffee and have my first sip outside.
Then I typically read. I am fortunate to have access to more than one online library which makes me feel so rich. And yet…opening my screen first thing isn’t always doing a lot to nudge me toward feeling good about the day. It seems too easy, especially in my sort of sleepy state, to check my email, read just the headlines of the news, or just pop into social media.
I usually begin reading, but then jump into the online world because it’s all right there. Just a quick look at the news, or, I wonder if my friend has posted pix…and I’m off. Rather than nudging me into presence or toward gratitude for another day, I end up doing upset, at least just a little, over the negative news I encounter, or I get sucked into social media (not always inspiring) and realize I haven’t enjoyed my coffee and now it’s cold.
Recently instead I’ve taken to keeping some physical books in a pile by where I read. Today I opened one1 up that I’ve had for years and read just a few words…BOOM I felt better. More connected, calm, happy.
Seems quite simple, and yet I fall away2 from beginning my day this way, sometimes forget. Ah the pull, the lure and the drag of our online information/communities. I’m a fan…and…online comes with such baggage…I need to be ready to walk through the weeds and maybe first thing in the morning isn’t the best time.
Setting the tone for my day with words that re-mind me, that bring me back to what I really care about, that is how I want to begin my day.
Do words affect you similarly? How do you incorporate them into your life? And how do you do mornings? I’d love to hear…
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Presence, by Amy Cuddy.
Even as I edit this post a few days after writing it, I notice that I “fell away” from this practice this morning, jumping into news and doing first. That’s how these things go for me, I need reminding again and again. シ Okay, well, never too late in the day for a reset. I’m off to sit and read for a bit.