Let's Get Real: Do You Wake Up Angry And Discouraged?
The tension grows in your chest.
Your shoulders pull closed as though on puppet strings. Your heart feels cramped so it starts to beat harder in panic. Your bloodstream suddenly snaps into action because the boss is frantic and spikes your blood pressure in order to compensate for the circulatory demand.
You feel a flurry of sparks in your stomach that turn into a growing burn. Your stomach signals to your brain a stress reaction, and the subsequent release of cortisol into your bloodstream sprays its own energy into the swirling, tight system of your torso, begging your lungs to pulse harder in order to keep you from passing out in anoxic panic.
The air shoots up your throat and exits as...a groan...as you roll out of bed...
This is the experience for so many people when they start a new day. Instant dread and apprehension as the thoughts of reality flood into their brain to remind them what lies ahead as the "reward" for getting up.
And that is even before those people reach for their phone and make the mistake of looking at email or Instagram the second their eyes are open.
We are extreme creatures of habit and our brains crave predictability so whatever we think and feel is cyclically reinforced in our brain. It's like feeding a horse that has to keep running hard across the plains. It will keep going in the same direction until you stop feeding it and redirect it.
Therefore, unfortunately, if we begin to feel discouraged by the breaking dawn, that will be reinforced every single morning and we will wake up in a sour mood.
What's worse, we start to think ahead and get discouraged about waking up before we have even gone to bed the night before!
This gets away from us super quickly because WE DO NOT STOP AND ASK WHAT WE ARE ACTUALLY DISCOURAGED ABOUT!
Why are we angry and stressed every morning?
Why do our days have to begin so negatively?
Why do you have to be such a sour puss when you get to work every day?
The last few posts have been about how to get over the mental hump and start something, whether it is a big change in your life or a small task at work.
I realized, though, that we did not discuss the basis for that mental hump - THE SIMPLE FACT THAT WE ARE NOT HAPPY ABOUT SOMETHING.
So, here is your Real Talk Question of the Week:
What stinks in your life right now?
What is so unenjoyable that you a) ignore it, then b) robotically ruin your own day anyway?
I'm serious: what is pissing you off?
The most common answer to these questions is the day job.Other examples include money, relationship tension, body weight, and morning routine.
What is it for you?
I'm not going to ask you to do anything else this week but answer that question and sit with it for the week.
Think about it. Tell your friends about it. Write it down.
This is your chance to pretend you are in elementary school again and complain about what feels unfair in life.
Don't overthink it. Keep it simple. What is currently pissing you off?
As soon as you can identify it, your overwhelm will subside and we can target something much more specific than the storm of dread you feel every morning...
Tell me what is pissing you off in the comments or click the button below to talk with me about it for free...
