Monday, July 11, 2011

BEATING THE MONDAY BLUES

“To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there.”
~Kofi Annan


How do you feel about Mondays? Do you drag yourself out of bed and think, “Only five days and I’ll have the weekend!"

Or do you wake up and think, “I am so blessed to be alive today!”

Life is all about MINDSET.

Remember this: THERE ARE ALWAYS TWO CHOICES.

Life is comprised of a series of choices. Choices like – what do I wear, what do I eat, what do I say?

One of the most important choices we make on a daily basis is our attitude and mindset for the day. 

"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good." 

Today you have choices to make:

  • You can focus on love or fear. 
  • You can focus on abundance or scarcity. 
  • You can focus on excellence or mediocrity. 
  • You can focus on what’s right or what’s wrong. 
  • You can focus on joy or sadness.

The choice is always yours!

My challenge for you today is to live intentionally. Choose your MINDSET and your FOCUS.

If you are struggling with your MINDSET and FOCUS today, follow these three steps to gain some traction:

  1. Use a metaphor to think of embracing today. One that I often use is thinking of a Ziploc bag. I think about placing the day in an airtight compartment and refusing to focus on yesterday or tomorrow. Sure, I plan, but I don’t obsess about the past or worry about the future. Think of your own metaphor and use it daily. 
  2. If you are struggling with your attitude, take 3 or 4 minutes and brainstorm all of the things that you have to be thankful for today. Do not do this in your head; it is important to write these down or put them in your phone. Remember: there is always a choice on what you focus. 
  3. Walk through the day with purpose and expectation – build relationships and love the people you interact with, embrace the challenges that you are confronted with, choose your attitude in all circumstances.

Life is too joyful and strong to waste even a day. Place your focus on today and CHOOSE to make it the best day of the week. Always walk in expectation.

Most of all – CHOOSE your FOCUS today!

Now GO! Make today your masterpiece!

QUESTION: Can you think of another way to help us focus on living more fully today? Please leave comments below.


2 comments:

Carole Ann said...

Hey Jason,

I'm so glad I read your blog because it really hit home in regards to how I was feeling today.

One thing that I've started doing is reciting the Serenity Prayer to start my day off and then I may do the same several times throughout the day whenever I've faced with something or some person that causes me to lose focus on being happy.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. . .

I'm starting to realize that there are things that happen just because God said so and the only thing I can control is how I react and feel about those things. You are right when you say that life is too short to worry about yesterday (it's gone) or tomorrow (can't be predicted)so the best thing to do is to operate in the here and now and being happy/positive about my life.

I'm not perfect so I know trying to stay focused on being happy/positive won't be easy every day, but I'm sure going to try. Thanks again Jason - you're the best!

Jason said...

Carole,
I love the Serenity Prayer. Life really is about living today. Thanks for the comment.