Shift Your Mood to Shift Your Life
I don't love mornings. That's putting in mildly. And my dislike for mornings has been passed on genetically to my daughter. Neither of us want to get up. The covers are warm. We are both dreamers. When the alarm goes off I am usually starring as the lead in a very exciting cinematic action epic. I put the alarm clock across the room so I have to get up to turn it off. Even with that strategy I am still capable of walking across the room, hitting snooze, and crawling back in bed in an effort to continue the story where I left off - not once, but three times.
When I do finally decide that I absolutely must get up, I am usually in a hurry because I hit snooze three times. Have you ever tried to get a grumpy seven year old to hurry. Ha! I know better - yet still I try. So what happens we end up walking out the door fuming at each other because we have been bickering for the last 30 minutes about getting ready, finding shoes, brushing teeth, and arguing over what is appropriate for a seven year old to wear to school. Bicker, bicker, bicker. It ruins half the day for me and probably for her too. And it isn't the relationship I want to have with her. I hate it.
Lately, though, things have been great because I have been waking up my usual sleepy self - reluctant to start the day, taking the dog out while half asleep and crawling into the shower.
Here comes the shift.
As soon as the warm water hits my body I consciously choose to shift my mood. I get happy. I get excited. Whatever it takes - singing, telling jokes, pretending I've won an Oscar (you should hear my brilliant acceptance speeches) - I decide right then and there that I am going to be happy and excited about the day. I want to emphasize here that this does not come naturally to me. I have to make a conscious choice and take action.
I've been doing this as a little experiment for the last week and the rewards have been phenomenal. I get out of the shower all hyped up and happy and wake up my daughter. She hates to be woken up. She's grumpy. She hasn't accepted her Oscar yet. But, mom is in a good mood and good moods are contagious. Eventually she warms up to it and we figure out a way to have fun and hurry at the same time. She loves to compete so we have been having races to see who can get dressed the fastest. Who can get to the door first. Who can finish their morning chores and find what they need for the day (car keys, backpack, permission slips) before the other one can.
In the car, she tells me stories as opposed to me lecturing her about how it is her responsibility to know where her shoes are. She sings. She talks about the funny things her friend Ellen said in circle time. I laugh. We sing to the radio. It is almost as if the old Kirsten and Emma, the fuming bickering ones, have been kidnapped by aliens and replaced by unknown happy people. The difference is that amazing. And the benefit is we are having the relationship I have always wanted to have with her. The love has always been there, but now we also have the fun. This alone is worth my weight, her weight and the car's weight in gold.
And here's the kicker...
The hidden benefit is my creativity is ROCKING! My mind is free and happy and the ideas are flowing. That time in the shower has washed away all the funk and gunk that has been clogging the creative flow. There has been a shift from...
working to be creative
to
overflowing with creative energy.
This has changed my life. My guess it that it could change yours too. Okay Mamas, get in the shower and accept your Oscar! If like me you aren't a morning person, it may feel like a "fake it till you make it" performance at first, but I guarantee it will be the performance of a lifetime! Have fun! Get flowing!
Kirsten Olson
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