Have a Morning of Champions!

We’ve all heard the classic tagline that boasts a Breakfast of Champions in every bowl.

I am not here to verify or deny those claims. I am writing this blog to reinforce the fact that no matter how good or pure or nutritious your breakfast is (or isn’t!), the more important thing to be conscious of is the attitude you approach the day with.

Yes, even more important than the fat and sodium and cholesterol counts of your morning fare are the positivity or negativity counts that you put into your mind and allow your mind to translate into the thoughts that make your day.

Wow, that was maybe the longest sentence I’ve ever written in a blog.

But it’s so critically important.

It is so important to start your day in a positive way. This isn’t self help mumbo jumbo. It’s time tested truth.

And if given the choice between a happy start or a rough start, why would anyone consciously choose the rough start?

But millions of people do this very thing everyday. Day in, and day out.

They don’t stop to realize a powerful, life changing truth–that even when we are not in control of the things that happen to us, we are ALWAYS in control of how we REACT to them. ALWAYS. Without exception.

We are always in control of our reactions to the things around us. From the screaming baby on the airplane to the rainy day to the illness we’ve just been diagnosed with.

With every action, there is a reaction. Once we understand and come to terms with this timeless law, we should feel a great sense of empowerment.

Because in a crazy world with seemingly endless chaos, we have total and complete control of our thoughts.

And since thoughts become things, that is an unbelievable amount of power in our hands.

Going back to the start of the day, it is wisest to wake up considering one or more good, positive things you are grateful for. It could be your health. It could be the weather. Or a job interview that day. Or the fact that it’s Saturday and you can stay in bed all day long if you choose to.

Your mind, if you will take the time to notice, rarely remains neutral. It will gravitate towards happy or not so happy thoughts. The bird outside the window singing a pretty song. The stack of bills that just keeps getting taller. The warmth of your feline companion on your lap. The cold of another brutal winter.

The examples go on and on. We usually tend to either be in a positive or negative mental state. Try it. Stop yourself a dozen times today and ask what you were thinking about.

The easiest way to determine this is to ask “How am I feeling?” Feelings don’t lie. You can’t think happy thoughts and feel sad and miserable and lonely. And you can’t think of loneliness and poverty and illness and feel elated and joyful. It just doesn’t work that way.

One thought always leads to another one, and then to another, and another. Until the stack of bills has led you to thoughts of destitution, foreclosure, homelessness, etc. The mind spirals down this way more easily than we would like.

Even as children we fall into this abyss.

Watch your kids wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Bed head, not finding their homework folder, realizing they didn’t finish a take home test, smashing their lunch in their backpacks, missing the bus, forgetting their field trip money, etc. It all snowballs so fast, doesn’t it?

Then when the child comes home they will usually vent on how badly their day went.

And how could it have not after one calamity after another? Would you expect them–or yourself or anyone else–to have had a great day amidst THAT chaos?

Probably not.

So even if it’s too late today, try to have a Morning of Champions tomorrow. And the next day. And more days than not.

Remember you are always in control of your reactions to the things that happen to and around you.

Once you realize this, you will become more conscious all the time as to how you react to something…eventually catching yourself even BEFORE you react!!

And that is the beauty of our thoughts. They are OURS. ALL OURS. The one thing no one can take away from us. Ours to mold and nurture and multiply at will.

See?

You are infinitely more powerful than you ever thought possible.