You are creative!

Don't believe me? Let's test my theory.

Remember the last bad day you had? You know, the one where you woke up in the morning and shortly after you realized it was a workday and you had to go to a job you don't love, you mumbled in your head. "son-of-a-biscuit, I don't want to go to work today", roll out of bed to the shower and realize that some 5 year old emptied out all your soap, so you are stuck lathering up with Elsa, rasberry smelling (but no rasberries I've ever tasted) soap. Get in your car, the whole way cursing that there's 'x' number of days left that you have to go to your job this week, or until the weekend when you can do what you want. How did that day go do you suppose? Answer is, same way it started I bet.

Now imagine a different day, you wake up and instead of your normal dread, you start a mental list. No not a list of all the things you have to do today, but don't want too, or even a honey do list. I'm talking about a gratitude list. You know the list of things you are grateful to have in your life. For me this often starts with people. And I don't just list their names, I think about them, and why I'm so grateful to have them. Once I get through that list, and if I've made it to the shower by this time, then my next step is to close my eyes and imagine my day, I don't mean just rehashing what happened yesterday, this isn't just any day, this is the Best Day Ever! Do it, close your eyes, think about who you want to talk too, how you want those interactions to go, what feelings go along with it, add as much detail as you can. What lucky things come across your path in your day? Have lunch with an old friend? Hear nice work from a co-worker? Nail that presentation you've been preparing for for weeks. Ok, good, now that you have those images in your mind, say this outloud, 'I have it now'...boom that easy.

So, let's look at the difference in your two days. What's the difference? Probably anyone watching those two scenarios from the outside wouldn't notice much difference on how you woke up and got ready for work, but how different do you feel? That's where the magic is at.

Thoughts and feelings are real things, and they can change your perspective. I'll give you one more example of this. I remember having this epiphany during my formative years in a conversation with a friend. So I was starting in on complaining about some relationship I was having and my statement went something like this "insert name, makes me so angry' and my friend saying, um, no one can make you anything, you are the one who decides what you are. And I internalized this statement and I had this aha moment that she's right, it was me, how messed up is that, to not realize these are things inside me, not them, people can't 'make you angry', or 'make you sad'. You do that. You're feelings are inside you. And the good news is, if you don't like it, you can change it . What? that's right, you are in charge of how you react to people. A great way to start this out is to ask yourself, first of all, why is this person generating these feelings, does it point out something in me, that I need to pay attention too? If there's something there, take some time to step back and reflect what you need to see about that and how to change it. If it's not, then choose something different! Neutralize that feeling and choose something different!

Ok, so lets get back to creativity, why do I say that you are creative? Because your thoughts and feelings are creating what's around you. Either by actively intending how you want things to be, or by not being intentional and letting things happen around you. Which feels better?

Try to create what you want this week. Try a new routine, wake up with gratitude and 'create' the feelings and interactions in your day. Let me know how different your day turns out.

Good luck and thank you for reading!