Forward

Today is a new day. Whether yesterday was rough or flipping fantastic, today is its own miracle. To honor that simple truth, every morning that today comes, I am going to be intentional in my actions, with my words, and even in my thoughts. Everything I do must be done with purpose. I have to work hard with purpose. Work hard with purpose. Rest with purpose.

I will start the day by saying some affirmations to encourage myself to move forward. In order to do that, I need to find the closest mirror. Wait, scratch that. I need to find the closest mirror with the most flattering lighting. If it is possible, I need to see myself as I say the affirmations and make sure I am hearing each sentiment. They should be positive and personal. Each sentence should remind me of my value and that I am wonderful. If I am ever sluggishly and half-heartedly encouraging myself, I will have to pause and shake off the weariness (whether of body or soul) and speak good over myself. There may be some moments where it feels like no one sees good in me, so I will have to see it in myself.

This army general once said that he begins each day by making his bed, not because he was trained to do that but because it demonstrates to himself that he accomplished something. To that end, the next task to be intentional about is realizing the day is manageable. I will have a To-Do list that hosts three things I should accomplish that day. My mindset should be that I need to tackle X, Y, & Z. The tasks should be ones that I absolutely can tackle. Some days I might not check off every item. I should not give myself a hard time about that (no matter how much I may want to do that). Instead, I should try to figure out what led to that outcome. Perhaps the task was too much. Perhaps I let something bother me. Perhaps I can tackle it tomorrow and everything will be alright. I need to find a positive at the end of each day. Whether I tackled everything I set out to do that day or not I need to be okay with moving forward. When it feels too difficult, I will seek out cheesy dad jokes. They always make me smile. I will allow laughter to be like medicine and be grateful that I still have breath in my lungs. Others were not so fortunate today.

Encouraging myself and realizing that I can conquer the day are important, but being intentional about how I interact with others is vital as well. I heard someone say that when we talk to someone, we should treat them as if they were the only person in the world. I did not understand that at first until I had been talking to someone and completely missed what made them so emotional about the story they were telling. I felt terrible. If I were to open up and trust someone else with my thoughts, wouldn’t I want them to at least be listening? I am resolved to care about my fellow man. We may disagree on foundational beliefs, but it would not make them any less important. When did we become okay with harming each other through sheer indifference? I want to live in such a way that I purposefully listen to others and identify ways I can help. I will not always be able to do what is asked or what I desire to do to assist, but I can at least give each interaction its due consideration. In that same vein, it will be important to ensure I do not drop my own tasks and disregard responsibilities to adhere to this attempt at kindness. I will practice asking others for a moment to get to a good stopping point in my work (if possible) or recognize that time is against us and work to identify a follow-up time that works. There are billions of people in the world and it would be impossible to speak one-on-one to each of them, but I will honor the time I have with any of them.

To do any of the aforementioned with strength, I must be well rested. This means I will not use the phone past 11p.m. I need to give my eyes a rest. I need to give my body rest. I am better off having the intention to tackle things in the morning because I often get asked to help with things throughout the day. If the day is free, perhaps I can tackle something that is upcoming. Perhaps I can just watch a movie or do some personal reading. As I write this, I sit in a rocking chair, and even this simple motion provides comfort. Rest and comfort. I will seek both each day. To remind myself not to overindulge, I will think about how my mom wakes up each day and goes to work. She is the hardest working person I know and I really admire her for that. I want to be someone younger people can admire. Let it not be just for show. I will be someone I am proud of each day. As I prepare to rest each night, I will tell myself, “You did well today.” In order to mean it, I will live intentionally.