Brave New Life

Day Thirty-Seven

Today was good. After sleeping around fifteen hours yesterday, I woke up very refreshed and ready for the day. That's the one good thing about migraines, I always feel so alive the day after. I truly don't know if it is a mental reset after resting so long to heal, or a physical reset where my brain just ...got some stuff out or something? Unfortunately, no one really understands migraines fully and can explain why they happen. 

Anyways, I got up on time for once, made my bed, ate very well today, started a new book called, "Emotional Intelligence" by Daniel Goleman, and got in some exercise. I also was very positive for almost the entire day. 

Unfortunately, I was unable to get much out of the book today as the first 40 minutes was just introduction wherein the author described all the ways he'd seen the concept grow over the years and how astounded he was that everyone grabbed onto the idea of emotional intelligence. He described the types of people and groups he had coached and the areas of the world where the concept had taken hold that he'd never expected. Honestly, the entire introduction seemed really braggy and was not a good listen. I'm really hoping the first chapter makes it worthwhile with some good information. 

For my exercise today, I decided to shake things up and I followed a twenty-minute cardio HIIT you tube video. Going into it I was thinking, "How hard could twenty minutes of cardio with no required equipment be?" Hard. Kicked-my-butt hard. I was so sweaty and exhausted after twenty minutes that I instantly gained a respect for people who take those forty-five minute plus HIIT classes with weights and things. Holy-cow, how do you do it? 

So, I feel great about my day and am giving myself a solid five on the growth scale. If you're feeling in a rut today, try a HIIT workout, it will definitely make you feel good about your workout habits at least. Or just switch things up in general. Sometimes I find that if I change the smallest thing in my routine, it can really help me shift a negative mindset, or look at things in a different light. For example, I have a really solid route I take through my workplace to pick up trash everyday, but when I've been slipping into negativity, I do the route differently—sometimes entirely chaotically and am forced to backtrack several times to reach every area. Initially, I get more upset and a little stressed at the change and nonsensicalness of the path I choose, but then I start to focus on where I might have missed because of the change and let the negatively slip into the back of my mind. Usually once I'm done, my mind is much clearer and I can reflect more accurately on whatever was making me negative. 

I hope all my self-work has lent me good advice that I am passing down to you, but also this is just my personal journey. If you find any power here, I am happy to have helped and encourage to begin your own journey. We all can grow and learn and become better versions of ourselves. Ever. Single. Day. 

Til tomorrow my brave comrades,

-C.