This past weekend I celebrated 365 days—one full year—of getting up every morning and having a “first things first” ritual of morning meditation, journaling, prayer and yoga/*stretch. *There are some days, ( I have fibro) where the stretch part isn’t much more then bending the parts that will bend, but the commitment to movement, and taking “Action” is still part of the morning ritual.
I set out a year ago to do this—with the full INTENTION of making it a NO MATTER WHAT ritual. It was an act of self- discipline, integrity and a promise to myself of putting myself and self-love first. It was with the idea that I can not in good conscious teach others to walk this journey unless I have walked the path, know how hard it is to do it every day, quiet the voices that want to pull you off the path, ignore the excuses, and the annoying voices in our minds that would never want to get up every morning to honor that commitment.
Here is what I want to share:
This one small—but awesome—victory over “Self” has given me a greater confidence in everything else I do, in the way I present myself, in the way I coach, in the faith I have in my ability to keep my promises to myself and others. I know I am faithful. I know when I set out to meet a goal, that I have the ability to stick to it, no matter what. And that if I can do his one thing this way, I can do anything this way.
We talk about rituals in coaching, We talk a lot about the importance, and the freedom that comes, and the way it allows your mind to quiet itself to focus on more important things. We talk about being rebellious to ourselves and resisting the very rituals that we decided we needed.
I want to share that for me, creating daily ritual has been a game changer that I am powerfully grateful for. It has calmed the wild pendulum-swinging of my moods, boosted my creativity, my confidence, self-love and respect and the way I show up in the world. And it has improved my sleep.
If it only helped the last one, it would have been worth it on that alone.
Do you have rituals that support your creativity, inner self-respect, love and personal power? How about your health? Have you made a personal commitment to honor those rituals and put yourself first, no matter what?
Could you benefit from the support of others who are on that path who understand how hard it is, who can encourage, help and support your journey?
I would love to help.
