I Got a New Attitude!

Have you ever woken up on the wrong side of the bed?  You wake up with an attitude, pissed off, and you don’t exactly know why.  You unwillingly get up and get ready for the day with a chip on your shoulder.  Any encounters with other humans are in the form of eye-rolls, grunts, or shoulder shrugs.  You just can’t shake it, but you continue on your day. 

Well, I had one of these mornings today.  I woke up with a ‘tude that I just couldn’t shake.  I was angry at the world but wasn’t sure exactly why.  I looked something like this: 

I have grudgingly learned these past couple of years that I have the ability to choose how to feel.  I could choose happy, or I could choose pissed off.  And today I was choosing pissed off!  So, armed with the knowledge that I could choose my attitude, I knew that this mindset was brought on by none other than myself.  It wasn’t the garbage truck’s fault that woke me up early, or the fact that my boyfriend has been gone for two weeks, and will not be coming back for two more.  It’s true that these annoyed me and made me sad, respectively, but I could choose to give into those feelings, or I could acknowledge them, say hi, and then choose to be happy. 

So, I put myself back to bed.  I felt like a mother disciplining her young child.  I willingly hopped back in bed and told myself to choose a new outlook.  I laid there for a few minutes resisting this idea, but as soon as I surrendered to my demands, and chose to be happy, I got out of bed, and started my day over again, sans attitude.  This time, I made my tea de jour, (Good Earth Original…it’s a great fall/winter tea), meditated, checked on my garden, and then got ready for the day. 

By changing my attitude, which I had total power over, I was able to have a productive day where I concentrated on my work, researching and writing nutrition articles, and could give my full attention to my clients.  I made taco salad for lunch, had a great workout at CrossFit, and a delightful chat with my boyfriend (He's showing me his shooting helmet).  I’m glad I called myself on my mindset, acknowledged that I was grumpy, took some time to turn my frown upside down, and carried on with a new outlook on the day.  Now, I didn’t have to change my attitude, but I am so glad I did.