If you wake up and you think I can’t today, then you already haven’t. You already haven’t because you said that you wouldn’t. In a way, you said it, now it will come true. Not because you have the power to speak things into existence as it were, but because even if something extraordinary does take place today, in your mind, it will always be relegated to something small.

You wake up and you say: I will complete the day. You’ve said this so, in a way, you’re already on your way to climbing the hill with your shoes on. Not that tiredness isn’t natural or that in the morning you shouldn’t let yourself feel human, but energy comes from the mind. So, we’re gracious with ourselves, but, simultaneously we also raise expectations because we want all the meaning we can get from life. Life isn’t better spent in bed. Life can’t be lived on the pillow.

You’ve already left the house in your mind and so your body will follow and whatever is left behind in your mind will catch up. Don’t let things drag. Your energy comes from your mind first and then your body. I am thinking energetic thoughts and that transfuses to my body. When I open my eyes, I’ve already left the house, am at the coffee house, and am writing productively. By the way that I am thinking,  I’ve already succeeded before I’ve gotten dressed. That’s how the day begins.

The day doesn’t begin with dread. The day doesn’t begin with thoughts of how impossible it will be. My mind doesn’t think thoughts of impossible things when I first open my eyes.

When I awaken to the day, my mind doesn’t think about about what I need. My mind says: there’s a way I can be generous today, not perfect, but giving. All that I have and all that I am is ready to be poured out because, when I open my eyes, I am rested and ready for the day. After a good night’s rest, I need nothing.

When the day begins with thoughts of what I can give, I do not consider my own pain, or what hurts. I know it hurts, but not every hurt can matter. I am thinking, some parts of my life are not working as they should, but many other parts are working and I am choosing to focus on those parts and so my life gains momentum.

Momentum is what greets me in the morning when I think about what is working instead of what isn’t. In this way, it is impossible to wake up sad. And by not waking up to thoughts of miserable sadness, it becomes possible to push through the day without a single thought of what’s lacking, what’s in pain, and what’s not working.

Hopelessness is driven away in the early morning hours and is kept away, not by perfection, but by momentum. Positive thoughts in the morning are like gas on your dimly lit fire of life. The sadness is there, no doubt, but it’s driven away by the momentum of success and hope.

Something will work today and, even if it’s something small, that’s bigger than all the sadness the day could bring.