Lies You Tell Yourself

And by you, I mean me.

And by lies, I mean I don’t have time, I’m too busy, I can’t, That may be okay for other people but not for me.

I have long dreamt of starting each day leisurely. Taking my time to breathe and stretch myself out of bed, relax with a cup of coffee, eat a delicious breakfast, do some yoga, some journaling, take a walk, meditate, do the crossword. Prepare myself in a nurturing and gentle way to have an enjoyable and nurturing day.

To start the day as I want to be in the day.

Except I tell myself that I don’t have time, that I should be doing something more productive, that I can’t. Those answers just aren’t true. I can do any and all of those things, well except the cup of coffee, because even though I keep trying it, I just don’t like the taste.

So okay, no cup of coffee, but everything else? Totally and completely possible.

Not just that, totally and completely worth my time.

I feel better when I choose to do these things. When I choose to start my days this way. The feelings these different things create reverberate throughout my day.

Yesterday I started my day like this.

I walked to my local park with my notebook and favorite pen. I wrote. I sat quietly. I sipped on a smoothie. I snapped a couple of pictures of my favorite bridge. I walked home. I did some stretches.

And then, I sat down to my computer and readied myself for the rest of the day.

There was a different kind of energy to the rest of the day. I felt both more relaxed and more enthusiastic. I felt more in touch with what I needed throughout the day, whether it was a drink of water, to eliminate distractions and focus on what I wanted to be doing or enjoy the just right snack.

Today? I did not.

I had an early client, and didn’t get up early enough to do what I did yesterday. I felt rushed and like I didn’t have enough time.

And then I remembered that’s not true. Of course I have enough time. There’s always enough time to take three breaths and get in touch with the feeling of a leisurely, enjoyable, nurturing morning. And if I really pay attention, there’s also time to do a sun salutation, or close my eyes for one minute, or make a cup of tea, to look out the window and really see the trees and sky and hills and bridge and river.

There’s always time.

Remembering that let me stop and choose to do the rest of the day differently. I napitated and drifted off to one of my meditation/hypnosis recordings for 20 minutes. Then I decided how I really wanted to be during the rest of my work day.

What about you?

Are there reasons, rationalizations, beliefs, statements of fact, that you tell yourself, that may not actually be true? Is there something you desire that you haven’t allowed yourself? Do you have a morning routine that you love?

Photo: The view from yesterday’s writing spot.