“All we need is the morning. As long as there is sunrise, then there is the possibility that we can face all our misfortunes, celebrate all our blessings and live all our endeavors as human beings” – Deng Ming-Dao
It’s the start of a new week. Unfortunately for most of us, this represents more “have to” than “want to”. In the spirit of owning the 24, I would like to encourage you to find some way this morning, today and this week to take some action to move the scale a little more toward the “want to” side of things.
What can you do? A couple of quick suggestions, not necessarily listed in order of priority:
- Change up your music – take five minutes to find some music buried in your library, or maybe even your old CD case, or find something online that really does it for you. Maybe pick a year and find some cool tunes from 1988, or some time when life was all “want to” and very little “have to”. Crank the Motley Crue or Van Halen, Van Morrison, or the Doors. Life is like a movie and you gotta have a great soundtrack! It will change your day!
- Take a different way to or from work – Change up the scenery! Yes the way you take is the most efficient path to your work. But think about taking a back road or some extra loop – leave 10 or 15 minutes earlier this morning and take the time for you. Better said, “demand” the time for you. Sip the coffee or tea, dig the detour, and enjoy the soundtrack!
- Do something fun – Maybe at lunch time or after work. The tendency to do what is comfortable exists in all of us! The crazy thing is every time we actually take the initiative to do something fun at lunch or after work we always have a great time and make a memory! I’ve lived all over the country and no matter where I’ve lived there is always something fun to do and see. Maybe it’s “no money fun” like a walk in a new park, or maybe you take the kids for a treat at a local ice cream joint or farm stand. Suggest doing something that generates a response from your people (kids, partner/spouse) where they look at you and say, “really?” It doesn’t matter what it is, just throw yourself out of your pattern and do something fun!
One of my favorite sayings is “optimism is an intellectual choice”. When you see the people at work or when you encounter anyone in your day and you are running through the normal, “Hi Bob, how are you…how was your weekend…”, respond with an emphatic, “AWESOME! I am awesome and my weekend was awesome!”. I do that all the time and get such a kick out of the responses I get. Try it! You never know…it may actually make you feel even more awesome! 🙂
