A few weeks ago, I was on a walk to a coffee shop near-ish my house, and I was in a MOOD. We’re all friends here, so I’ll admit to you that I had just had an argument with my husband (about what I don’t even remember at this point), and so the mood was not a good one. Anyways, I happened to be listening to a guided walk from Peloton at the time, and at one point while strolling, the instructor said something that has stuck with me for far longer than whatever it was that I was annoyed at my husband about that Saturday morning.
I’m paraphrasing here, but the instructor (Matty, for all you fellow Peloton-obsessed folks) said that at any point in your day, you can choose to change your mood. You can choose to be happy, to make it a good day, regardless of what came before.
You have control over changing your attitude.
I remember being like, “OH. Okayyyy.” As if that had never occurred to me before.
And really, I think for many of us, we can find ourselves caught up in a narrative in our heads — that feeling that if one sh*tty thing happens to us in a day (or 12), then forget it… the whole day is clearly doomed up until we go to bed. But what if it doesn’t have to be that way?
((Unrelated side note: just realized I am censoring curse words as if my mom is going to be receiving and reading this. But she’s never read even one of these, because I started this newsletter after she passed…sigh.))
There’s no domino game that gets set into motion when you pop open your eyes in the morning. If you spill your coffee, it doesn’t mean you’re bound to spend the rest of your day with terrible/frustrating/irritating things happening. And even if they do, well, you don’t necessarily have to let them ruin your day or how you walk through the world.
It’s a nice thought, don’t you think?
Sort of freeing to realize you don’t have to hug that anger or stew in that bad mood for longer than you want to, and certainly not for the rest of the day… you can put it down, let it go, anytime.
Only you decide how you feel. No one — and nothing — else!
Anyways, that notion has stayed with me. I thought about it again last night, when I randomly found myself feeling annoyed at the world, for really no particular reason.
This all also makes me think of the now internet-famous pug, Noodle, who’s been trending for making up his mind about whether it’s going to be a lazy, stay in bed sort of day. (Aka is it a no bones day, or a bones day?) If you ask me, that dog is doing what we all should be doing, and that’s creating the day we want on on our own terms — regardless of what else is going on, or what has or has not already happened in our morning or our week.
My dog, who was pictured in last week’s post, also subscribes to that philosophy… and could really give Noodle a run for his money when it comes to commitment to lounging.
Long story short (LOL you know by now I never tell a short story), no matter what time it is by you right now, or whenever you’re reading this, you can shake off the cobwebs and choose a happy ending to your day.
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Have a great evening, and if you need some dinner inspo, I’m making this pasta tonight (one of my go-to recipes — it’s delish!). Thanks for reading, and a special thank you to everyone who sent me notes regarding last week’s post. 🥰
Sending you all the YAYs,
Joelle