The Most Important Minute of Your Day
How do you frame your day?
It’s been said that the first few minutes after you wake up in the morning can shape your day, for better, or for worse.
Consider these two examples to see what I mean, OK? In the first, you wake to a beautiful, sunny, 70-degree-birds-chirping kind of day, with nothing more than a leisurely morning planned. You take a few minutes to enjoy the feel of easing into the day. As you ease into wakefulness, you are in the moment, savoring it as you become aware of your surroundings. Perhaps you say, “Good morning!” with gratitude and joy — even if you are just saying it to yourself.
In the second example, you wake up abruptly, after you have hit the snooze alarm a time or two, and you feel rushed and pressured. Your world comes crashing back to you. You immediately check your iPhone and see the deluge of emails waiting for you, and maybe even check the weather to see just how cold, icy and just plain miserable it is out there. (Groan.) You’re feeling “the Yuck!” even before you set foot out of bed. You find yourself running late, complaining about one thing or another, worried about any number of things.
Of course, we are talking about so much more than the weather here. In fact, not much would change in the first example if we substituted a beautiful, frosty, white winter day. Or in the second, if we changed it to how hot, humid and miserable it is out there.
The change is in how we hold the day, not in our physical surroundings. Yes, this is a variation of the old “Glass half full or half empty” story, and one that we can forget in the moment, no matter how aware and conscious we are.
About now, you may be saying to yourself that it is easy to be feeling joy and gratitude when everything is going your way, and the promise of the new day is rosy and bright. Perhaps, but it all boils down to your perception, doesn’t it? Even on the worst day ever, when truly sad or bad things are happening, the mere fact that you woke up, opened your eyes in that new day beats the alternative, right? I don’t mean to trivialize this – especially because it’s on those really hard days that framing your day in a positive, grateful way is so vital. When you give yourself the luxury of taking just a minute at the beginning of those rough days, you are setting things in motion to find grace under pressure, so you can navigate more effectively through the day.
It’s easy – really it is. Give yourself the gift of a minute in the morning, when you first open your eyes. Your commitments will wait, along with your worries – and even (dare I say it?) your iPhone. Now, you may be doing something like this already, and if so, I am inviting you focus on bringing the concept of framing your day in a positive way even more into your consciousness. And, if you’re not? Tomorrow is the prefect day to start.
Breathe deeply, and greet the day in a way that feels good for you, it doesn’t much matter if you say “Hello!” “Good Morning!” “Welcome!” or whatever floats your boat. It just takes a minute, and could be one of the most important minutes of your day – honest. Saying “Good Morning!” and naming just one thing you are happy or grateful for (such as the blue sky, frosty air, warm, cozy bed, or whatever) is a great place to start.
Who’s with me?