Some mornings I wake up with ten thousand and twenty-five thoughts that say you can’t, you shouldn’t, you couldn’t, somebody already has, it’s too late, you’re not ready and who do you think you are?! I observe all of those shadow thoughts then allow them to guide me in the direction of the light. I can decide each morning that those thoughts are real but not true and I can choose to turn up the volume on the thoughts that say, you can, you have, you will again, you will do better, you absolutely should, nobody has done it like you, NOW is the time, you ARE ready and you are exactly who and where you need to be today.
For some people the shift out of the negativity bias is not as simple and that can look like severe depression or anxiety. I encourage anyone who can’t find their way out of the shadows to ask for help. Hope and healing are possible.
And in all fairness, for me this takes significant effort. I sit for 25 minutes of meditation each morning (it’s like mouthwash for my brain) followed by an hour of some kind of inquiry related to my spiritual development like a recorded dharma talk or reading from a book on positive psychology (that’s like brain breakfast to set me off on the right foot.)
Then the intention setting, I write out a plan in my journal for who I want to be, and how I want to show up in the world just for that day.
I also practice prayer.
On my knees.
An open ended conversation, an intentional acknowledgement and an act of reverence for the vast and expansive nature of all that we do not know nor understand but for which we are all a part of…And THEN I have my coffee and do my very best to do this human thing.