I woke up this morning highly anxious. I must have been in one of my typical dreams of unsolvable dilemmas where I am completely unprepared and everyone is depending on me. Have you had these dreams also during the pandemic?
It took me a while to figure out that I had too much planned for the day and to streamline my expectations. Once I did that, my mood went from -10 negativity to well, about +5 positivity. It took me putting my heart behind the decisions I made on what I chose to do to move closer to +10 positivity.
Why does it matter? Have you ever turned the sound off and watched a movie without listening to the words? Don’t you get 90% of what is going on from the body language? Your mood radiates whether you are positive or negative and you infect all those around you. As my Mother used to say “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything.” Great concept, but she never taught me how to work through times when I felt negative.
Especially with COVID, it takes a lot more work to be positive. So, conscious practice and self evaluation are key. That’s what I did this morning when I woke up anxious and grumpy.
First, identify why you are feeling this way. Unfortunately, that is not always easy. Sometimes it takes minutes, occasionally it takes days. If you just had a fight with a loved one, let’s mark that as a distressing event rather than labeling the other person as a jerk. It opens up the possibility of resolving the break in closeness more easily.
Remember that you can choose your attitude. By giving yourself grace and time to get in touch with your feelings, you can take care of yourself. Using tools to address your negativity, you can become more positive. And, like that movie without sound, you will communicate positivity without saying a word.