goodafternoon.goodevening.andgoodnight.

DAY 4. goodafternoon.goodevening.andgoodnight.

Today I want to talk about how we start our days, how we break up our days and how we end them. 

I feel like when you start something with care, you literally do just that, you care more. It's something you've nurtured up to a certain point so why would you stop now y’know. How we start our day is very powerful because we can either start it scattered, late, chasing our tail so that every thing, person, situation, issue we are faced with that day can completely throw us off, or we can start our days with an ANCHOR. 

No days are perfect, some days we wake up to drastic, life altering news, some days we just couldn’t turn our minds off the night before and we sleep in, some days we wake up ill.. shit happens. Life happens. It will never stop happening. But I am a person who aims for my idea of perfection. For greatness. If you shoot for greatness and you only reach good that day, well that’s still pretty good. But if you’re shooting for just getting by or just getting it done rather than getting it done in the BEST way you know you are capable of, and you miss.. WAMP WAMP you’re just not getting that far are you. I am not saying be super tough on yourself and yes my use of the word of perfection is a constant topic in therapy but STILL, I see value in this. Shooting for “perfection” while also understanding it will never be.. you’re gonna get pretty fucking close. Closer than not. But again that’s just me. And yes, I am a little crazy and intense you should take every single thing I say very seriously just in case. Hahaha 😂🤷

**seriously tho.. Depression, grief and those life altering events I mentioned are no joke and they can completely paralyze you. Be easy on yourself and no matter what, love yourself, forgive yourself and do your best, whatever your best is in that moment. Sometimes it’s just taking a shower and making sure you ate that day. And if it’s not your best, fuck it. I still love you and you better still love you. Life comes in waves and cycles and when you sink, sometimes you just gotta sink. You’ll come back. Trust me I know it all too well but I’ll save that for another post.❤️**

But back to the anchor. I find when I start my days early, the earlier the better tbh, I get to ease into my day and do it my way. I am directing the flow of my day and my energy - I am not getting dragged or pulled. I run my own company and the clothing industry is a whole crazy beast on it’s own so I NEED to make sure I am in a place to be able to think clearly, react less, move with intention, be able to make wise decisions and be a good, trusted and calm leader. For whatever may come up. (Cuz it’s always something.) And whatever you do for a living, this is beneficial to us all. Setting ourselves up for a better, more at ease, commanding and loving presence is everything. 

I start my mornings by getting woken up with little kitty whiskers in my face. I don’t set an alarm unless I have a flight or an early meeting but I try to schedule things around making sure I can have my morning routine and I naturally wake up with the sun — and my cats’ breakfast time, of course. (Although I will say I’ve really been a creature of the seasons for some time. I sleep in a little later in Winter and I wake up before sunrise in Spring/Summer..) Water, coffee, then go immediately onto my patio to write in my journal. I started doing this last year and I took it from The Artist’s Way Morning Pages. That 3 pages every morning as soon as you wake is such an amazing purge for this mishmash of thoughts and feelings that we wake up with. Whatever comes to mind, oh I have to charge my car, oh shit I never texted this person back, ugh I’m really worried that thing I said to so and so was misconstrued should I text them back & make sure or am I overthinking? Literally every thought I don’t care if the sentences make sense. It’s a purge. Sometimes I write little poems or love notes to myself or goals or dreams I had.. there are no rules. Right after I do this I say a prayer and eat my breakfast. I feel so calm letting that leave my brain. Thoughts and our inner world aren’t linear. They will just keep spiraling in there if you don’t let them out somehow. Plus, I love having a little timeline and something to read back on to see how I’ve grown. To see how happy, sad, scared, alone, excited I felt at times and how I got through things I never thought I would or wasn’t sure how.

How we start our days is so important. You can choose to wake up and choose how you want to show up to everything you want and have to do that day. You do not have to be dragged and pulled or feel like you’re always trying to catch up. Be first in line. Be a fuckin boss. I always said nobody ever looked cool rushing for anything. Let’s try a saunter. 😂😎 

My energetic healer says we should look at our days as little vignettes. It’s not this huge hour long meditation in the morning every day and then you’re good. Although you can absolutely still do that! But I find it’s super helpful to break it up and see where I’m at. After a workout, before a meeting, after a shower, before I get on this call.. before I step out into the world & run errands.. Nerves. Emotions. Am I sleepy, hungry, anxious.. what do I need in this moment to clear this and feel centered again for the next vignette of my day. And so on. 

In the evenings after my shower & skincare routine and all that, the new thing I am implementing is sitting and writing in my journal again about my intentions for the next day. How I will sleep, how I will wake up, how I will handle the appointments and meetings I have, the magic I am inviting in, and setting myself up to honor my morning routine again. I swear to you guys, just having that special relationship with yourself where you keep reassuring yourself - even out loud which I do a lot! Is HUGE. I feel like sometimes my body likes hearing my voice back to me. I’m building more trust with myself. She knows I’ve got her and that I’m setting her up for a positive outcome, as best I can, in every situation. And if it’s not positive, I’ve still got her. I have also now dedicated the last hour before bed to reading. Right now I’m swapping between Og Mandino The Greatest Salesman in the World and A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin. I had to implement some discipline around my phone in the evenings otherwise I would just scroll til I rot. 😂 

So good evening to you. Or good morning. Depending on when you’re reading this.. You and you. You are your anchor for greatness. Pause and make sure it’s right where you want it. 

Love you.

See you tomorrow. 

xx L 

**Image via Sienna on Pinterest