On the Cold Dark Mornings

Posted on January 27, 2020 by dragonspitapothecary

Here it is Monday again.

Like most winter Mondays in January this one is cold and it’s still dark outside while you stand there at the coffee pot waiting for it to finish. If you’re like me you’re looking out the window over the sink listening to the coffee pot while the dog is chomping on her food. I’m not sure why I look out the window, there’s nothing but dark out there this time of year but I do every morning. The rest of the house is still quiet but it won’t be long until there are feet up and down the stairs looking for books and shoes in the rush to get ready for school. Yet in this early morning minute it’s thankfully quiet still.

It’s harder to move on these cold dark mornings. I don’t want to get out from under the warm blankets and it’s still dark out so it doesn’t seem like it’s time to start moving around. Our son won’t want to get up either and I know it will be a little battle to ease him out from those blankets he’s wrapped up in. Yet here we are at these early hours moving despite our body’s pleas to not. There just doesn’t seem to be enough days when we can sleep until we naturally wake up or ease into our days at our own pace. Instead we push past the tired and cold against our feet to start another day.

We stand in front our mirrors brushing our teeth and we see our eyes look tired and our hair is wild from our pillow last night. Oh good grief how are we going to deal with that hair this morning ? Are those new dark spots under our eyes? How did our skin get to looking so old overnight? I sigh and start reaching for the brush, cleanser, moisturizer and oils I use and get through the routine of making my face and hair presentable.

For most of us mornings are a fast pace flurry of activity as soon as we wake to our alarms. It doesn’t matter what we would prefer to do, namely roll over and snooze some more. It doesn’t matter if we’re tired and didn’t sleep well. It doesn’t matter if we just don’t feel like it either. So here we are in the cold dark looking out our kitchen windows, waiting on the coffee pot, wondering how we’re going to get through the day. Life sure is exhausting sometimes isn’t it?

Comfort in being miserable

As I thought about my morning routine while I looked out the dark window today I realized how many of us find comfort in being miserable. Even I do to an extent. It’s just the way life is right? We’re just supposed to do this, live like this, be like that and do it all without complaint. We easily accept it as how things work and push through it despite knowing it doesn’t feel good to us. We are forcing ourselves into a mold defined by society, generations before us and responsibilities of being a functioning adult.

Does this mean adults are not meant to be happy and vibrant? Does this mean unless we fit into the mold of expectations and responsibilities that we can’t have what feels good too? Do we really have to wait until we are elderly and retired to live a life we want? How dreadful that sounds. Why do I want to wait until I’m old to enjoy living life? Oh how much we miss out on when we wish our Mondays away in hopes of it being Friday soon or being able to retire in a few years or when we have enough money. It’ll all be worth it right?

It’s hard to break out of our routines and realize how much they stifle, limit and restrict us from living our best life. I like some routine because it gives me a sense of structure but for most of us, myself included, we have too much structure and not enough spontaneity. We lack the freedom to live more on our terms and do what feels right for us because of expectations, obligations and responsibilities. These are the yokes of adulthood that weigh us down, make us hesitate and force us to stand at our coffee pots waiting for Monday to be Friday.

When I really considered how to change that I realized there were so many limitations I had self-imposed on myself. Some of these things were because I had just starting doing them one day because they needed to be done and now here I am still doing them. Other things I have to do, like go to work every day, make the family dinner and so on. But what if I changed how I approached some of those things and started moving in a way that didn’t make Mondays so dreadful? What would that look like?

I challenge you to consider this today on this cold dark Monday while you stand at your coffee pot or are on your way to the drop off line at school before rushing to work. How can you change your outlook from a dark kitchen window on a quiet morning to actually look forward to the fresh week? How can you take a step forward to not let it feel dreadful?

Here’s some of my favorite tricks:

• 1 drop of doTERRA Peppermint in that coffee you’re brewing. It’s incredible, trust me!

• Wash your face baby. Yes just wash your face and put on the good moisturizer that isn’t toxic, animal tested and containing things that are questionable for your health long term

• Take good vitamins. Stop wasting money on things that don’t work and get on a vitamin protocol that builds and support your body

• Let go. Simply let go where you can of things no longer serving you. It is so liberating to free yourself of these types of things and suddenly you even find some spare time to enjoy for yourself

• Stop wishing away your time and days. Sure some days pass slower than others but there is grace in finding beauty each day. There is a reason you have been given this day, seek that out and learn, experience and savor it.

To get what I use to support my mornings naturally click here: dragonspitapothecary.com/Love-Mondays