IT'S STILL DARK OUT!
As the days get shorter and we wake up to darkness, we find it quite hard to ooze out of our slumber. It’s not the same as our youthful bounding out of bed on the first day of summer vacation. Rather, we roll over remembering tidbits of dreams, and slowly rising
to the thoughts of the to-do list, we left behind the night before.
HAVING A MANTRA
I release all negativity and embrace a mindset of peace, joy, and contentment.
I am resilient, and I have the strength to overcome any obstacles that come my way.
This is when it’s important to have a mantra: one statement that you continue to repeat that alerts our brains to a new day with new opportunities to enjoy it and make the most of it even if we know things are anything but joyful on the surface. For caregivers of survivors of TBI, for example, it may be a routine that is taxing but essential. Or if you yourself are a survivor of traumatic brain injury, you know that you have a day ahead of you with challenges, some big, some small. Still, it is another day, and the darkness has yielded to another allotment of light.
I DON'T WANNA GET UP
Some days, we’re ok with the ebb and flow of things, challenging or not. Other days, we just want to curl up with a hot cuppa something and get cozy for a while before we fully wake up and begin our day. If we pay attention to all the things going on around us, we can easily get depressed and make a choice to wallow in sadness.
THEN WHAT?
We search for ways to calm our own brain’s habitual tendency to want to hide in the safety of our cozy little spot on the planet. We find a few good thoughts that we’ve practiced long enough now that they come up easily, like remembering our times tables from third grade math. They’re in there.
MY MANTRA
“Every day, in every way, I am better and better and better.” (José Silva)
I recited that phrase over and over one winter when I was particularly frustrated by an ankle injury, and it really helped my mindset. I use it daily now for good measure! It’s the beginning of a drowsy mindset shift from sleep to wakefulness, from darkness to light.
IT IS MY CHOICE
I am reminded that I have a choice to stay in the darkness of negative thinking or embrace the light around me. The light encourages me to be grateful for another day, and actually pause to figure out what I really, really want for today.
Is it silence?
Solitude?
Connection with others?
Outdoor activity?
Creative expression of some sort?
WHAT DO I REALLY WANT?
- passionately enough to get over my own resistance to it, to get past the achiness of knees and grab hold of the light. I can feel the darkness dissipating slowly when I allow myself to indulge for a few minutes in feeling the dark - within and without. And then, grab my Gutsy Woman self and Get Up, Then Say Yes to what is being asked of me today. Just for today. It’s the only day we have, and we can make the most of it.
GO GUTSY NOW!
I would love to hear what Mantra you use to GET UP, THEN SAY YES (GUTSY).
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