How To Start Your Day - BY: Christopher Agudo

Read more until the end of the article and you will be presented a quote from our latest book,
"The Distinct Facts of Living... Get To It"

"To be gloomy, or, not to be gloomy?" That is the question. Questions are a great thing, they make us think, they make us contemplate. They give us the ability to wonder and give us time to come up with an answer, without having to jump to conclusions in a rush. When we ask ourselves a question, we have initiated a quest we must embark to attain the answer. Without questions we aren't able to use our minds in a deeper way and that's unfortunate considering the immense power our minds inherently hold.

So as great as that all is, you might be wondering about the question I asked earlier and if there is any significance with it pertaining to this article. The answer is yes. That is the question we must ask ourselves for how we want to start our day. You might be thinking that is stupid because no one wants to start off their day, "gloomy." Well, to assure you, that is correct, no one does but unfortunately there are days in which we start off in a bad mood. The thing is, we're human, we can tend to exhibit un-beneficial feelings because we have programmed in us something called, "emotion." Here is the cool thing though, we have the ability of control and will-power. Those two things alone grant us great power. We can with the power of our will choose to start our day off in a good feeling or choose the opposite.

It's true and I'm going to explain to you just how exactly to start your day off in a good mood and how to carry that feeling with you all day until you go to sleep. Yet, before getting into that, I feel what you are about to read is something we all must understand. The following is true and happened a while back, unfortunately though I do not recall the website. One day I wanted to know more about the mind, so I did some researching online. I came across a blog in which the author was explaining how a group of scientists, I believe, were doing some tests to see how in-tune the body and mind are with each other. So they plugged some wires on an Olympic runner's head to measure the brain waves.

Now I believe they already had measured the brain waves of the runner as he was actually running. So because they had the brain waves of him actually running, they had a reference point for the next tests they were going to do. This time they had the runner lying down with the wires plugged on his head. For this test they told the runner to imagine and visualize himself running as if he was really doing it. The results were shocking. The scientists noticed that the brain waves of the runner as he was lying down visualizing and imagining himself running were identical as the brain waves of him actually running, physically. 

That is incredible. The point I am trying to get across is the fact that our minds are powerful and to not take them for granted. The mind triggered the brain while lying down, imagining running in the same fashion as actually physically running. It's that powerful? Yes. Along with visualizing and imagining comes thinking. Our thoughts come from our mind. It goes to show that visualizing, imagining and thinking are just as powerful as actually saying or doing something.

Still don't resonate with the idea that the mind is powerful? Then think of it like this. Dreams. When we go to sleep and dream, it's so intense that we think it is real as we are dreaming. All the while our physical bodies are asleep. To top it off, the mind is so powerful that when we do dream, because it feels so real and we think it is real life while dreaming, sometimes our physical body wants to act it out. That's where "sleep-walking" comes into play. Pretty intense, huh?

So keep that in mind while we revert back to me explaining just how exactly to start your day off in a good mood and how to carry that feeling with you all day until you go to sleep. When we wake up, the very first thing that happens in that exact moment of waking, our body is still as relaxed as it was while sleeping and our mind is transitioning slowly into waking state. That's why sometimes we'll experience difficulty actually getting out of bed or won't want to because we are so comfortable in mind and body. It's like zen, or bliss. In that exact moment there are no thoughts of anger or sadness, or anything we might be thinking later in the day. As if you are thoughtless. It isn't until you thoroughly think something or get out of bed that you start leaving that exact zen or blissful moment of waking from sleep.

Here is the trick, before getting out of bed or thinking something that could potentially start your day off in a bad mood, first either think to yourself or say out loud, "TODAY IS A GOOD DAY." Why that? Because remember, our minds are powerful. By affirming that, you are already declaring to yourself that the day you are about to experience IS a good day. You are stating it as a fact, making it all the more possible and real. "TODAY IS A GOOD DAY," as opposed to creating and owning a thought or feeling that is going to make you feel negative and start your day off in an un-beneficial way. This is not just wishful thinking or pure optimism, this is the power of our minds at work.

Once that is accomplished, repeat it two to three times with conviction, as to bring an emphasis on the feeling. Feeling goes a long way. Take a few slow, deep breaths, do a nice stretch and stay in your bed for another minute. Why the deep breaths and stretching? Breathing is needed, obviously, and deep breathing is good at certain times. By taking a few slow, deep breaths you are allowing a steady inflow of increased oxygen to get to your brain. This is beneficial before getting out of bed as to more easily and naturally acclimate into your waking state, to be ready for the day ahead of you. Stretching is good because once again, as to more easily and naturally acclimate into your waking state, to be ready for the day. That and it feels great.

So far (when you first wake up) 

Guess what... you are not those people, nor are you their problems and negative mood. You are you and the way you want to feel. Don't get affected by others. You are stronger than that. Don't succumb to influence. Do you get affected by dust that lands on your shoulder? No, you dust it off and continue doing what you were doing. When you start your day off, the question can be asked, "to be gloomy, or, not to be gloomy?" Choose wisley.

 

As you read earlier, here is an excerpt from our latest book "The Distinct Facts of Living... Get To It"

"The four words Living Is So Big are here to act as a reminder for all of us to live life to its best potential. Sure, if one likes to wallow and bask in the negativity, surely one can do as one pleases. I just like to state that there is the whole spectrum and on one side there is the negative, on the other side, positive. Does one like the negativity and sadness and anger? Okay, if one does, then they shall live in that. Yet, I show the whole spectrum, saying, maybe try balancing it out and experience the positive. Wallow and bask in that for a change. Live in that. Living Is So Big is just a reminder."

-Christopher Jay Agudo