Have you ever had one of those days where you feel so gosh darn low?
Nothing excites you. You don’t really care about anything. You don’t feel like doing much of anything. You honestly just want to sleep the day away and hope that you wake up feeling different.
I think we have all felt this to some extent.
I would like to share a story of a day where I had felt this way. I had actually felt so crummy that I left work early.
I got home around 4:30pm with very low reserves of inspiration and motivation. I was a big fat mess of burnt out.
In an attempt to pick myself back up I figured some housework would help. Doing chores helps me continue to move, and if I decided to watch a movie it’s a guarantee that I would fall asleep on the couch. I knew that would only contribute to my already low frequency feelings.
So laundry it was.
As I was driving to the laundromat down the street I felt overwhelmed with sadness and depression. A heavy heap of yuckiness.
I thought to myself…“UGH this feels awful, what can I possibly do to feel better? I feel miserable! It’s only 5PM, is this how the rest of my night is going to be?”
While saying these thoughts in my head I felt that funny feeling in the back of my throat. You know, that feeling when you are trying so hard not to burst into tears? I took a big sigh and again was repeating to myself…“I just feel so miserable and low.”
I arrived at the laundromat and unloaded my exceptionally heavy laundry basket crammed full of clothes out of my car. When I bent over to pick my basket up an insight smacked me in the face.
INSIGHT: (noun) an inspiring idea or concept that suddenly pops into your head. Its purpose is to guide and support you towards healing and growth.
"You do not arrive at happiness. Happiness is within you and you must bring your attention to it. Enjoy every breathing moment. Look for the joy in each instant."
Wow was that everything I needed to hear. I decided to give it a try. I told myself, “Okay Kayla, we are doing laundry, how exciting! Let’s enjoy it!”
Now remember, I was feeling looooooooow. So this was said through my teeth, sorta in a way that’s like when your parents tell you as a kid you have to apologize to someone you don’t want to apologize to.
But I could feel a slight difference. The subtle, small shift in thought also gave me a subtle, small shift in feeling.
Every single moment in life, you have the ability to choose how you would like to feel about it. The fact is, our thoughts lead to our feelings, our feelings lead to our actions, and our actions lead to how we experience and go about life. This is why it is vitally important to be conscious of the thoughts we are creating inside of our heads.
It almost seems silly to me that as humans we try to define each moment we experience in life. This one is good, this one is bad. Doing laundry is boring, attending a birthday party is where the fun happens. And while yes, that may certainly be the case for a handful of moments, why don’t we try to take the mundane moments we might otherwise see as boring or unimportant, and make them magical?
There is this special power within all of us where we actually have the ability to do so, to make moments magical. Do you know what it is called?
It’s called perspective.
In any given moment, we have the power to choose the perspective through which we view our world.
Two people can observe the same exact event, and one may say it was an amazing experience, and the other may say it was a miserable experience. The fact of the matter is, you ultimately decide.
You can do this by focusing your attention on something good rather than something that’s bringing you down. It’s important to recognize this power you have within you. It can change your life when you awaken to it.
Happiness is not a destination that you are GPSing directions to.
You have already arrived! If you believe it is a destination you are striving to get to, the sad news is that no matter where you are in life you will always feel like happiness is out of reach.
Once you believe it’s yours, it will become yours.
So become present in every waking moment. Open your eyes to the perspective of love and joy. Recognize that you have the power inside you to decide to shift your thoughts. Which will then shift your feelings, actions, and how you live your life.
Start harnessing your power today.
I was reminded that evening that happiness is in every moment, so long as we allow ourselves to enjoy it. Happiness is indeed in doing your laundry. Happiness is always there and available for us. The story we are telling ourselves is the root of whatever we are feeling.
Choose a story that brings you closer to happiness & peace.
Use your power of perspective wisely, because your happiness greatly depends on it!
Thank you for spending time with me here.
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