It is 11:11 p.m., which is supposed to be significant, but I forget why actually. I find it humorous that I started writing this post, which I fear may lack any significance at all, at what is said to be a significant time, and I hope it somehow inspires me. I could blame this feeling of insignificance on the onset of my first cold of the season, but that wouldn’t be fair or accurate. This feeling comes from not living intentionally today, as I felt like I was on autopilot and just going through the motions, which makes writing this post a bit difficult tonight.
I woke up this morning with a worsening cold and residual anxiety from the previous night, and if those two things were not reason enough to stay in bed all day, the rain and the fact that it was Monday certainly were. Alas, I had too much to do today to indulge in this fantasy, as there really is no rest for the weary. So, I had to make some decisions about how to let go of what I wanted to do and accept what I needed to do and to do my best when I definitely wasn’t feeling my best physically.
The one thing I did for myself today was to focus on the positive, which is a challenge for this pessimist at heart, especially when under the weather. This morning, I began reading, “The Magic”, which is a book about how to practice gratitude in your life, and it offers a twenty-eight day program to help readers learn this practice. So, today, I began the twenty-eight day journey by listing ten things I am grateful for, along with the reasons why I was grateful for each thing on my list. It was a lovely practice that I am looking forward to doing each morning, along with my daughters and me doing our respective gratitude journals together in the evening. Bookending the day with gratitude improved my mood and changed my perspective on a number of areas in my life. I found myself giving silent thanks for a variety of things, such as hot green tea to soothe my sore throat, medication to ease my cold symptoms, good home visits with some of my clients, etc., and I also made more of a point to thank people, such as my pen pal for sending me supportive texts during the day, my friend and mentor, Trude, for giving me some precious gifts, my ex-husband for picking up our daughters from school, etc. Once I began to take the time to offer up prayers of thanks, it seemed like more good things came my way, and what had the potential of being a dreary “sick day” morphed into a Thanksgiving Day of sorts. While I hope that I wake up tomorrow without any cold symptoms, I hope that I wake up with an attitude of gratitude.
So, what did I do for someone else today . . . What did I do? Seriously, what did I do? This is not a teaser to a great story about some fabulous good deed for the day that I did, it is my acknowledgement that I did not do something intentional to help someone else, which is frustrating and disappointing. I racked my brain earlier to try to think of something, and I kept falling short. I did offer support and pass along some information to my pen pal that I hope was helpful, but that’s just part of our friendship. I did let a car go ahead of me when I had the right of way, but that was just being polite. You can see that I am reaching for straws here.
So, while I did not fulfill both parts of my daily quest, I did help myself, which I hope enables me to help others tomorrow. It served as a valuable reminder that I cannot merely go through the motions, as I have to live each day intentionally and purposefully. A new day brings new opportunities, and I plan on being ready.
Just one thing each day . . .
Categories: Just One Thing Each Day
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