Mind Over Matter

Do you ever build something up in your head only to feel disappointed- or on the contrary- very relieved later on?

We women can sure plan up a storm- in our minds that is! We often try to play out in our head how a particular event will go, who might show up and we play out scenarios of who we might bump into and how long we want to stay even before we get there. We might be dreading the thought of running errands with kids in tow and how the day will feel so much longer, anticipating whining, defiant behavior or tantrums only to find out that the day went without a hitch!

As I mentioned in last week's post, I was scheduled to work on black friday. It's rare that I do this anymore but for some reason (possibly because it was all new to me) I had built the whole thing up into something I was dreading, all while I was still enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with my family! I was thinking about how long the day would be, and being new how customers might get frustrated with me as I'm still training, and many other thoughts went through my mind too (I've always been quite analytical, which is a curse really.) And you know what? NONE of them were founded! The evening wasn't overly busy, it was a steady stream of people. The company provided dinner for us, so even my dinner break felt longer and the store was a lot more quiet than I had anticipated. This was a huge reminder for me that as much as I want to be in control of the outcome, or be a planner and organize the day in my own thoughts, it never goes the way we plan anyway, sometimes it works out better!

My dad once said to me, "If you don't have any expectations, then you can't be disappointed!". How true that advice is. A few times on my birthday as a child, I had envisioned something different than what was, and then feeling a bit disappointed later after all of my friends and family had gone home.

What we believe to be true tends to take over and can really shape our day, but most importantly our ATTITUDE and our outlook on life. We have the ability to create great joy, anticipation and excitement for ourselves or anxiety, dread and stress. Our mind is a powerful tool, we need to use it to our advantage. Don't use it to defeat yourself before you've even begun the day with thoughts of insecurity, inadequacy, fear or judgement. Be still, be present and let the day unfold as it was intended, it is so much more freeing.

Happy Monday!