The moment when my alarm goes off in the morning (well let’s be real, the moment the third alarm I’ve set has chimed for the fourth time), I usually grumble and groan and let the occasional expletive fly.
Well, that was me a few months ago.
What has changed? While I still require several annoying alarms to wake me from my deep sleep, I have started a new way of greeting the day.
Instead of grumbling and swearing, I pause and get myself to list what I am thankful for. It takes about 30 seconds and then I’m stumbling out to the kitchen grasping for coffee.
This morning I gave thanks for a warm bed, super colleagues that have gotten us through what is the equivalent of publishing three papers in a week and my dear mom who reminded me from her shack in the Costa Rican jungle that a picture is worth a thousand words (hence our colourful front page this week).
I can’t say that I’ve become a better person overnight, these things take time. But my mornings sure are more pleasant and instead of reaching for my phone I’ve started to cultivate the habit of pausing, reflecting.
If you’re reading this facing a crisis in your life, struggling to even get up in the morning, I hear you. Feel free to point the middle finger at this column, or shred it into tiny pieces. I’ve been there. All this happy thankful stuff can become a bit much during the holidays.
But when you are back to normal, and you will be, feel free to join me in making a little daily habit like this.
I myself don’t always have it quite so good, life hands me ups and downs and the only sure thing is that I won’t be here a hundred years from now.
But for that moment when I open my eyes and take my first breath awaking to the day, I know that I am blessed in more ways than I can list.
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