Mindset Mondays with DTK – Ep #155 — Burning energy or finding gifts?
Three years ago on the first episode of Mindset Mondays, everything went haywire … including (OK, especially) me. I lost my composure and when I look back at that broadcast, that’s all I see. Three years later, I got a reminder of what a gift that day was.
“Each day provides its own gifts.”
— Marcus Aurelius
I shared on last week’s broadcast that because of power and internet outages, I had to race through snowy, winding country roads to get to the closest coffee shop in time — with seconds to spare, mind you — for my 3rd annual Mindset Mondays broadcast. What I realize as I reflect back is that I navigated the entire, hysterical morning with humor, ease, and grace. Even on the drive, the car may have been racing, but my pulse wasn’t.
I found the humor. I enjoyed the drive. And when my computer was dead once I got to Calders Coffee Cafe in Highlands, NC … I went and grabbed a cup of coffee, calmly returned to my laptop, booted it up, logged into wi-fi, noticed the time, smiled, and went live. It was a VERY stark contrast to three years before.
On Tuesday, the power in the cabin started flipping on and off just after sunrise … exactly like the day before. All three of us had to be on the same ALL-DAY zoom conference in a few hours. And then the power died. We calmly made breakfast. Ate. Packed all our stuff. And rolled back down the mountain to my now favorite coffee shop in Highlands … This time with 90 seconds to spare!
I have burned so much energy, spawned so many ulcers, and made so many around me miserable by flipping out over things over which I have zero control. That was the old way. The unconscious way.
NOW I seek to find the gift available in every moment. The gas stove. The time spent. The wicked drive through the mountains. The funny stories. The sweet interactions playing musical chairs in the coffee shop. It’s always the little things. A focus on those little things has become a more frequent way of being for me over the last year.
This year, my plan is to consciously focus solely on the things on which I have influence and over which I can exert control. Everything else I am letting go.
Where are you burning energy (or creating ulcers)?
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