The 1 Thought You Need Today

Have you ever woken up filled with dread?

 

Like you didn’t want to get up that day?

 

Like no amount of coaxing, prodding or arm-twisting could convince you to step out of bed?

 

I experienced that at 5:31 am today.

 

Like a rebellious teenager, I hit the snooze button.

 

Again.

 

And again.

 

Harmless and normal for some, but not for me. Hitting the snooze signals something is going on with me.

 

Something’s not right.

 

After snooze number 3, I finally got up. I rolled out of bed, meditated and got dressed.

 

“How are you going to have time to get it all done?” said a voice in my head.

 

“What if you can’t think of anything to write,” said another.

 

“This day has disaster written all over it,” said a third.

 

“Well, good morning to you, too!” I said, talking to the barrage of characters I lovingly refer to as “the monkey mob” in my head.

 

This little trio sure could be fierce at times.

 

As I stood before the bathroom mirror, a fourth voice came in:

 

“It’s going to be okay, Jaime. Everything is going to work out.”

 

I smiled at the image of that voice, and a short-lived feeling of peace washed over me.

 

“Everything is going to work out, Jaime,” the peace monkey said. “Today is going to be an amazing day,”

 

What do you mean? I thought. You heard what the others said. I lost so much time last week from the holidays … and Bree got sick. And now Reese is, too.

 

“Amazing? Ha! How is that even possible?” a monkey dressed in a blue shirt with the word SCARY said.

 

“She hardly did any work last week. She’s so behind. Plus, it’s another holiday week, which means even more lost time. Just give it up, Jaime, and go back to bed,” said the monkey with the word ‘HOPELESS’ tattooed on his sweatband.

 

“Yes, last week was a holiday week” said the wisdom voice. “And it was a wonderful and needed break. Trust me on this. There will be more than enough time to do everything today and this week. And today is going to be an amazing day,”

 

Another of the negative voices started to argue, but it stopped midway.

 

“Today is going to be amazing,” I said softly, my words echoing back.

 

“Today is going to be amazing,” I said louder.

 

I took it a step further:

 

“No matter what happens today, I hereby declare: today is going to be an amazing day!”

 

With that, I walked away from the mirror, turned off the bathroom light, and set out to live my amazing day.

 

Wouldn’t it be awesome if it was always this easy? If you could simply decide to have an amazing day – and then it was.

 

I have a proposition for you: what if it was? What if today, that was all you needed to do?

 

If there’s 1 thought you need today, it is this: you have the power to choose, in any given moment, on any given day, to have an amazing day. Because peace or love or joy is only a thought away.

 

I challenge you to hold yourself accountable today. To promise yourself you’re going to have an amazing day. And then to have one. And once you do, scroll down below and tell me about it. I love hearing from you!