STARTING YOUR DAY RIGHT - PART 1

Article By
KAYSOON KHOO

 

In an earlier article, I touched on how we should begin our day. Let's now have a look at exactly how we may go about it in this three-part article.

The minute you open your eyes each morning, remember to thank the Universe. Say the words “thank you” out loud. Let the first emotion you feel as soon as you awake be that of gratitude. This emotion works wonders when it comes to seeking blessings from Life, because unless you are grateful for what you already have, you don’t deserve more!

You have plenty to be grateful for. First and foremost, you’re still alive. Don’t take that for granted. To be able to wake up to another day is not something that’s guaranteed to everyone when he closes his eyes for sleep each night. Some never get to open them again. That’s why sleep is sometimes referred to as the “little death”. Think of that and treat each day as another gift from Life.

There are a host of other things you should be grateful for. The ability to think is one of the most precious gifts Life gives you. When you have this gift, you have CHOICE! What choice? The choice to plant whatever thoughts you want in your head. The choice to decide each and every single act you perform, as well as every single word you utter. The choice to feel good if you want to.

Feeling good is a personal choice, whatever the circumstances that surround you. You may be sweltering under the scorching sun of the Sahara -- and feeling grateful that you're not gripped by the freezing cold of the Antartica. Or vice versa. Sometimes fate sketches on your canvas of life. But it always allows you to choose the colours you wish to dab onto the canvas. In short, when you move your lips, you decide whether they should droop or tilt.

Let’s assume that the alarm you have set in your clock woke you up. You reach for the clock to switch off the din that grates on your ears, and instead knock it off the bedside table. You swing your legs off the bed to bend down and pick up the clock, and stub your toe against the thing. You feel the sudden pain, but don’t curse. Just say “oops” and leave it at that.

You go to the bathroom and find that you’ve run out of toothpaste. No matter how hard you squeeze, nothing will come out of the tube. Push down that wave of irritation that rises in you. Don’t make a big thing out of it. Just force it out gently but firmly by giving a shrug and saying, “So what?” Make do the best you can with tap-water and a dash of salt. And remember even more firmly to get a fresh tube on your way home from work today.

Anything can go “wrong” for you when you start your day. There may be sudden water-rationing or power disruption, the car may develop engine trouble, the workers of the bus service you use may go on strike – anything at all can happen.

When things happen, they either suit your convenience or they don’t. Actually, these things are neither “wrong” nor “right”. Some of them just happen. They’re unforseen and there’s nothing you could have done to prevent them. Others happen because YOU allow them to – like the car's engine trouble or the shortage of toothpaste. Whatever they are, nothing is solved or rectified if you allow yourself to be irritated.

Adopt the smart approach. Take a deep breath and ask yourself what's to be done next. It works for all the most successful and happiest people you can find anywhere.

Always choke back that curse word. Don’t let it be your automatic response every time something goes wrong in your life. It never makes you feel better or relieves your feelings. It merely aggravates the foul mood you’re already in. Giving vent to your anger or irritation through obscenity or blasphemy is not the answer. The more you do it, the more the habit grows on you. Learn how to keep it in check and abstain from it altogether. Then see how much more you’re respected and liked when you move among others.

Here’s something you can do to start your day off right. Go the bathroom, rinse your face with cold water, then look in the mirror, give your reflection a great big smile, and wish yourself good morning – out loud. And don't forget to put enough lilt in your tone. You know full well the impression a tone of voice can make. Don't let your "good morning" sound as if you're saying, "Oh no, not another day!"
 
If your name is John, say, “Good morning, John! You are a wonderful person, and a happy and productive day awaits you!"
Don't say those words by rote. FEEL that it’s indeed a great morning, FEEL as wonderful as you tell yourself you are, BELIEVE that a happy and productive day awaits you, and ANTICIPATE it.

Don’t think of this exercise as childish or inane. It is NOT! By smiling at yourself in the mirror and addressing yourself this way, you are programming the right data into the computer of your mind. All those words you have uttered have purport. Let’s examine them and see what you have just told yourself.

But before we do so, let’s first consider that smile you give your own reflection. When you smile at your reflection, it smiles right back at you. So it is with the world. When you flash a happy look at those you encounter, they’ll beam back the same warm response to you. Not ALL of them, naturally. Some may be so wrapped up in their own dark moods, they won’t have a smile for anyone. But you won’t care! What’s important to you is the lift in your spirits you feel when you give away a smile – which, as someone so aptly puts it, is worth nothing until it’s given to another.

 

 

 

( continued in Part 2 )