I’m not quite sure how this one if going to turn out, so here goes nothing!

One of the reasons I blog about something I am thankful for is that it is a tripwire to remind me to pause all the busy-ness of the day and think. There are no other looming projects, there isn’t a TV show on, there isn’t a game being played. There is only me pausing to think and reflect. To add perspective to all that has happened throughout the day. By making this behavior change of blogging daily I’ve been able to re-wire my brain to get back to doing something it should have been doing anyways. In these moments of stillness I’ve found deeper joy and satisfaction in my life.

My recently added ritual of reading my goals before I get out of bed and before I go to sleep has only been going on for almost a week. The impact it is having on me has already been shown in action on countless occasions. I’ve responded to situations differently. My reactions have been more of what I want them to be rather than what they had been when they were seemingly on auto pilot. The simple act of reminding myself of who my best self is and how he responds has caused me to live more into that person than the person I was.

That said, it’s also been very frustrating as there has been a huge increase in moments of cognitive dissonance as my will power and discipline haven’t always lived into the ideals of my best self – not by a long shot. In those moments I know what the right answer was or what action should have taken place, but I opted to act otherwise as I wasn’t able to stay disciplined. It’s interesting, much of it is behavior I’ve been doing for a very long time, but by priming my brain in the morning with the framework of who I would like to live into I can see all the imperfections so much more clearly than I did before. This brings the faults to light which stings, but also is beautiful as I’m seeing more clearly all that needs to change.

My life has been full of rituals based on ruts. I can’t help but think of the Thoreau quote:

It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves.

Thoreau, Walden

By making minor changes to the daily rituals I’ve been able to increase my joy and happiness exponentially. In this past week I’ve already seen the gap between who I am and who I am called to be start to close a bit (even if there’s still many miles to go!). By changing my route ever so slightly I’ve become much more aware of all of the other rituals that I wish to break out of.

Thanks!!!