My alarm goes off at 6:15 in the morning and almost immediately I begin to think about the things I have to get done in the new day that is just beginning. I check my phone and see a text from someone I was supposed to have a breakfast meeting with at 8:00. The text asks me if it is okay if we push our meeting to 8:15. I respond back: “Yes!” The extra 15 minutes will come in handy as I completely forgot about the meeting.
As I begin to think about what else I have forgotten, I hear the rumble of the trash trucks. The garbage! I forgot to put the trash out. I run to the garage, grab the overflowing bags of trash and make it to the curb just in time to hand them to my garbage man!
By the time I come back into the house, my wife and kids are all busy getting ready for their day. My son needs my help to do a final review for a big test. My daughter can’t find her computer charger and sends me looking for it. My wife and I try to find a minute or two to review our schedules and determine which one of us is picking up our kids from school and which one of us is running to the grocery store and meeting the plumber at the house at 2:30 in the afternoon. I am feeling stressed and I have only been awake for 15 minutes. My day is off to the usual start.
I know that stress so early in my day isn’t good for me. When the frenetic energy of my early morning routine pushes my buttons before 6:30 in the morning, the real intense stuff I’ll face at work in a few hours will have the potential to put my mind, body and soul into overload and the results won’t be good.
I know that good habits like taking time to slow down, catch my breath and pay attention to what I am thinking and feeling form the foundation of a happy, meaningful, stress free life. But, the fact is, good habits like these just aren’t a normal part of my early morning ritual. The experts say we can embrace healthier habits that can overpower and replace the unhealthy routines that fill our lives with stress.
I have tried to find ways to slow myself down in the morning and begin my day feeling refreshed and recharged. I have tried prayer, but there is simply too much going on in my house to carve out spiritual time. I have tried meditation, but, again, the energy level in the house makes it impossible to focus. I don’t have time to exercise in the morning. I have tried waking up earlier so that I can go for a run or take advantage of some quite time to pray or meditate – but honestly, I like and need my sleep too much. And so, I have found myself getting into the very unhealthy habit of beginning my day feeling scattered and frenzied.
But, just recently, I purchased an electronic toothbrush…READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE
