How to Start Each Day Anew Despite Everything - Five Suggestions
I suggest going to bed earlier as a solid guarantee that you’ll wake up feeling better and more hopeful about Life. It’s obvious that folks everywhere are drained by the horrendous events we’ve endured. Also, drink half your weight in ounces of water.
Yet, despite extra rest and hydration, there are lots of days when I’m reluctant to put my feet on the floor. I know I need to get up to stop my too-loud phone alarm from rousing the neighbors. I have to feed the cats to silence their melodramatic cries of starvation. And it’s usually me who punches on the coffeemaker, so I do. It may look like I’m dashing about with energy and purpose, but my joy is still wrapped in the bed sheets, slumbering. Tuckered out.
After a year of setbacks including Covid, my mother’s death, and my husbands cancer diagnosis, my natural exuberance has sagged, considerably. I have really needed encouragement to keep going as we meet the challenges of producing of our little magical fable of a film, ANGEL LADY.
The wisdom from IT’S TOO LATE TO QUIT came to me as messages over the years I’ve hosted HOW TO CONNECT WITH ANGELS podcast. I assembled them into a collection to share with you. Thankfully, I can return to these words to motivate me and rediscover that spark.
If you too, feel glum and resistant to taking on your day and enjoying it…
Here are Ideas to Consider:
STEP ONE - TAKE A MOMENT AFTER YOU OPEN YOUR EYES
Before you get out of bed, is there an onslaught of negative thoughts - like a waterfall of stinkin’ rubbish pours down? With this page from my book, I’m offering the idea that you choose to start every day with a DECISION.
STEP TWO - RELEASE THE HEAVY FEELINGS
Let the moment you wake up also mark the beginning of an all-day process of letting it go - the sadness and grief over your abilities and all that went wrong. The past lives in the rear view mirror. You can consciously release your attachment at any moment that you catch yourself drifting off the path.
Here’s a few words to say to yourself and breathe into your heart.
STEP THREE - RECLAIM YOUR AUTHENTIC AWESOMENESS
Here is a postcard that has lived on my bulletin board for years. Look at that little girl who has climbed the fence and contemplates the adventure that awaits! Do you have an image that inspires you? Don’t hesitate to start looking. We all need positive triggers and reminders.
Put it up and place yourself in the scene, feeling the breeze and smelling the fresh-mown hay. Do it for the free-spirited, lively, and intensely curious child within. Love that little Light. That’s you.
STEP FOUR - CALL UP & EMPOWER YOUR CAPACITY TO LOVE YOURSELF
We Human Beings under-estimate the power of Love. I recently did a podcast interview with Frederick Ponzlov, who channels Solomon. Among the many pearls of wisdom he shared, was, “Love is a verb. Love is an action we take.”
So, how about this? Yes, it is excruciatingly difficult to call up love when you feel crushed, but think of it as your lifeline out of the dark place.
I will never forget the words of one of my Buddhist mentors - a dynamic force of nature named Roberta, who spoke about how appreciation polishes the heart. We will find our way out of the deep rut and the hard, slow, slog we feel our life to be.
Because, when we react to a tough situation with love and appreciation for ourselves, things change. You’ve changed. You’ve chosen love, instead of the flogging.
STEP FIVE - LET LOVE LEAD YOU FORWARD
Perhaps we are alike, in that you also have anxious thoughts like hungry rats, racing around the empty cupboards of your brain, looking for something yummy to feed on…
What’s with the anxiety? It’s my ego in overdrive, trying to predict all that will go wrong, in order to prevent it from happening. YIKES.
One way to get rid of the rats is poison. Another way, is close the cupboards. Turn off the light, and leave the kitchen. My great and humorous therapist Marty would call my flurries of worried thought, my “Horriblizing.”
We can begin to see this sometimes perilous adventure as an opportunity to choose Love and Peace in this moment; in our hearts and minds and therefore in our interactions with the world. I’m not just goosing myself to have a better day, I’m loving on my life, your life, and our incredibly amazing Mother Earth, unveiling her Spring wardrobe.
Every day we reset with Love, all that is Good, wins.
Onward with deep gratitude that you have taken the time to read this!
Sheri Leigh
May 23, 2021
LAGNIAPPE (EXTRA TREAT) - DREAM ON
Stay tuned on this free and fun webinar we're planning!
"Claiming your Marathon - Your Impossible Dream."
If you read my blog, you'll see some of the strategies we will discuss with guests:
- Marathoner Dr. Dean Goodman (still running distance in his 70's)
- Angel Lady film director Edgar Pablos
- Activist artist Daneeta Jackson of Planet Daneeta
- Triathlete, veteran, cancer champion, and health innovator Clayton Treska
- Plus more!
If you'd like to be kept in the loop and reserve a free place, email me your interest - sheri@itstoolatetoquit.com.
P.S.
Here's a link to the book's Amazon page with 45 reader reviews. If you want a copy in paperback or Kindle, you can get it there. If you are flat broke, email me at sheri@itstoolatetoquit.com and we will work something out.