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| The Path |
Day 12: 21 Day Complaint Free Journey
In other words: I have been attempting, for 116 days, to string together 21 consecutive “Complaint Free” days.
Yesterday began as a disjointed, discombobulated day for me. I had woken up at 1 AM, sleepily stumbled to the bathroom, had then fallen back into bed, ready to snooze until dawn. Well, that was the plan.
Sleep skittered away from me, though, my mind suddenly engaged in calisthenics, hopping from this thought to that worry to that mental “to do” list, back and forth. I tried to regain the velvety peace of rest, I really did.
“I’ll try to concentrate on my breathing. OK. One breath…..”
“I can’t believe she said that to me today! What a crock…..”
“Wait! Back to the breath….one…two…..”
“I have to remember to buy cat food tomorrow, it’s been two days that I’ve forgotten….”
“Stop! Go to the “floating in a pool” image...that usually works…..”
“Remember that time I went to Daytona with [person X]! Wonder what happened to….”
“Darn….there I went again! OK. Picture the clouds, skittering through the blue sky, sun hot on my skin….Breathe, in, out, in……”
“I really need to start submitting my work again, how can I expect to sell anything if….”
Well, you get the picture. I finally gave up around 4:30. My mind was working hard, so I got up and joined it at the computer, finishing an article ahead of deadline, my eyes gritty and sore from being open so long.
BUT…..I took a different road to the rest of the day than I usually do when I have one of these irritating nights of struggle.
I decided to act like it never happened. I dropped into my routine (although I did manage a nap in the middle of the day just because I could at that point, being self-employed is a wonderful thing), and did the best I could to regain my equilibrium rather than spin out of control and waste the rest of the day.
Restricting the complaints rather than spreading my angst to others. Choices. Progress.
Day 12.
Posts
I've had my share of those nights lately. My dog woke me VERY early today and I tried to go back to sleep. I couldn't for the same reason as you, my "monkey mind" went into overdrive. I finally decided to get up, get my tea and get busy. I just completed one item on my to do list that I've been stalling on. Now on to the next....
ReplyDeleteWhy try to fight it, right?? Just go with the internal clock and give the monkey something to DO!
ReplyDelete