5.15am - Alarm goes off, and I scratch around to find my blaring I-phone to stop the alarm. I knock it off the bed side table and rummage around to try and find it. STOP - you'll wake up my sleeping beauty of a boyfriend (Too late, he's already groaning and rolling around the messed up bed). Ah - got it!
5.16am - I slide out of bed like a character from 'The matrix', and walk with squinted eyes and stiff joints to the nearby bathroom.
5.43am - I'm buckled into my little Mazda 3, driving to my morning Pilates class as I try to psych myself up for another tough session with my 'awesome and most favorite' killer instructor.
6.05am - I walk into the fresh smelling and lit up studio and ask for a pass to the 6.15am class. "Oh, sorry - we are sold out today". My initial reaction was to say "Really?!" with a tone in my voice that expected the young receptionist to clear a place for me. I go to this class every Thursday morning, and have for the last 3 months, but there is no bed for ME? My first disappointment. I cringed to myself, but then took a deep breathe and accepted a pass to the next class in minutes time.
7.15am - Class completed; brow sweaty, legs burning and with a refreshed outlook on the day. I stride into the change rooms, open my gym bag and realize that I've left my entire toiletries bag at home. In a moment of panic I was about to run out the door to find the nearest chemist, supermarket - ANYTHING, to spend up and buy me all of the missing essentials. How was I supposed to go to work, as a Professional with no eyebrows, no eyelashes, eyeliner, no bronzer and with un-brushed hair and fury teeth??! I was certain that nobody had seen me without my 'beauty' on, they're going to look at me all day and ask if I was sick or tired? (Sure enough - my beloved year 7's without fail, and without disregard questioned why I looked so different and sick today! Thanks guys!).
I decided to take a deep breathe, pull up my big girl pants and take on the world with a 'No make-up Selfie' kind of attitude. Besides - I'm supposed to be a good role model for the students and young women I teach.
7.46am - I've been sitting waiting at this four way intersection for 15 minutes while 4 trains take their sweet, people transporting time to cross the road, making me late for work!
Happy Thursday everyone - I'd say it's going to be 'one of those days'.
I could react in two different ways here - I could sit in the car and have a 'tanti' like a three year old child who didn't get the Baby born she really wanted, OR I could take a breathe, look at the sun, think about all the things I was going to do that day that were mildly positive and move on. Besides - surely after a bumpy start, the chances of anything else negative happening were fairly slim at this point, I hoped.
With my fresh outlook on the day, I look up from the steering wheel, and low and behold; it was one of the infamous 'Housewives of Melbourne' walking across the road in front of me! What a spot! Things are looking up already, I grinned to myself.
Ten minutes ago I was frustrated, disgruntled and ready to crawl back into the comfort of my bed - but at that point in time (at the peak of my annoyances), I chose to think differently. I changed my thoughts, which resulted in my change of emotions, feelings and optimism and my readiness to accept the positive parts of the day.
It's all too easy to get sucked in by a few bad events that have happened during the day, week or even year. The thing is - by letting these negative emotions be heard and take over your thoughts, you start to only notice the negative things around you. This sets a spiral of continuous negative thought processes that hinder your ability to deal with daily tasks, as well as effecting your confidence, self esteem, decision making skills and motivation for life.
We will never be able to have total control of the things that happen to us, no matter how well we plan or organize ourselves. The only thing we can change, is our thoughts and reaction to the things that happen to us.
When you start to focus on the great things that are happening around you, it branches out and spreads like wild fires until you begin to not even blink at the negative.
Start small - you might notice that the sun is shining, you went for a run, you had a nice conversation with a friend, your coffee tasted amazingly delish today, you got to spend a night out with the girls dancing to awesome 80's tracks at a seedy club. It can be as big or small as you like - but you just watch; positive thoughts breed more positive thoughts!
Think about where this issue sits on your life's 'catastrophe scale' - 1 being virtually no impact on you, and 100 being the most horrifying and terrible thing that could happen to you. Most people, realistically will only ever reach into their 80's at their worst when they put their experience in perspective.
Start right now - when you notice yourself thinking negatively about things that happen to you (e.g You dropped the milk all over the floor, you can't get your hair to do anything you want or you have an argument with a family member), stop your thoughts there.
Now; either think about turning it into a more productive thought (e.g An argument can help to share your thoughts/emotions with another which can eventuate in making your relationship closer or solving the 'issue'), or take a breathe and think about at least one positive thing around you.
Try it today. As with anything, it can take practice, but life is much brighter, you will feel more motivated, productive and resilient.
Enjoy the positive side! x
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