Fire Up Your Engines!

Motivation for this Monday Morning

A Morning Affirmation and Quotes

Fire Up Your Engines!

I pushed myself a little too hard this Thursday and Friday I suppose and subsequently crashed Saturday and Sunday. I hate losing days to sleep and laziness although I know I needed to recuperate after my late nights out and about. While I am feeling far better this morning I am still up not up to par and I need some motivation to fire up my engine this Monday morning. As I have mentioned before Mondays seems to get a bad reputation and today I understand why. I feel robbed of two of my weekend days which I usually use to clear my head, do things I enjoy, and mentally and physically prepare for the week ahead of me. I am feeling a bit off because I lost this time to sleep. My usual organization is not in place and my mind is still swimming with thoughts from the previous week and the weekend (the part of it I was awake for...) I don't feel refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to face the long day that I have ahead of me. I am making the assumption that I am not the only one who is not quite ready for the weekend to be over and thought I'd help us all out by supplying us with some much needed motivation for this Monday morning. Lets start off with a positive morning affirmation to get ourselves in the right frame of mind-

I accept each day as a new opportunity to outshine yesterday.

Well, seeing as I was asleep for the bulk of yesterday this affirmation should not be difficult for me to fulfill. But lets look at in a broader sense and for all intensive purposes pretend that I did not sleep my day away yesterday. 

Someone needs some motivation this morning-

We wake up each morning, occasionally a little groggy, look at our alarm clocks (usually with dismay), and roll out of bed knowing that we have a full day ahead of us. Many of us tend to throw on whatever is clean, rush to get coffee or chug some quickly at our kitchen table, shove a breakfast bar in our bags, and run out the door. We see this day as any other day. We give it no special attention or think for a moment that today can be special, different, better than the day before. Despite my tiredness and disgruntled feelings toward this Monday morning I did my best to challenge that same old routine that we often find ourselves trapped in. I woke up before my alarm (which seems to be a regular pattern for me recently.) I sat down at my kitchen table and enjoyed a calming and full breakfast. I took my time to enjoy a bowl of cereal, cut up an apple and dipped in a large helping of peanut butter (one of my all time favorite foods), and sipped some cold water while observing Milly enthusiastically play with some dirty socks that were lying on the floor. (She's too cute and funny sometimes- She has all the toys a kitten could possibly want and she chooses to roll around with my dirty socks..go figure!) After my leisurely breakfast I ventured downstairs for my morning cigarette and enjoyed the sounds of the city- cars driving, buses running, horns beeping, people chatting (at rather loud levels,) and every so often a bird chirping.

Awkward photo shoot but regardless- me "dressed up this morning" !

I went upstairs and got dressed for the day. I didn't throw on whatever was clean or was easiest to access. I chose to get dressed up this morning because being put together helps me to feel good. I put on a nice wool dress, printed grey tights, accessorized liberally (tons of jewelry, some cozy socks, a cuddly fringed scarf, a fun printed headband), and put on enough makeup so I didn't look as worn out as I feel. (The only downside to my getting dressed this morning was my inability to find a specific bracelet. I spent almost an hour looking for it, which really through me off, and was still unable to find it. I am hoping that it comes up when I am least expecting it as things like this tend to do.) But even without the oddly missing bracelet I was able to look in the mirror and say that I felt very good about myself. I was pleased with my morning. I made definitive decisions to make this morning special, to do things that would help me feel good, and to create a foundation that could make this day better than yesterday. We have the capability to set the tone for our day. Lets look at this morning, and this day as a whole, and believe that it has the possibility to outshine yesterday. It's a new and different day and it is full of opportunities that were not present yesterday. Before I say farewell to you I'd like to offer one last resource- a quote of course, to help us fire up our engines this morning-

"Carpe Diem"- Seize the day !

"Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men [or women] wait for opportunities; strong men [or women] make them."

- Orison Swett Marden

Today may not be remarkable and the opportunities it offers may not be extraordinary but regardless the new day is here and along with it comes an abundance of opportunities. As Marden says it is up to us to "seize common occasions" and make them special, make them matter, make them big. It is our strength that will allow us to make the most of these opportunities and subsequently make today outshine yesterday. Don't let any opportunity pass you by no matter how seemingly unimportant or insignificant it appears. What are you going to choose today? You have a multitude of options- Are you going to stay in bed all day as the world passes you by? Are you going to snooze your alarm so that you are forced to throw on the first items of clothes lying on your floor? Are you going to shove a breakfast bar in your bag and miss out on the funny, adorable things your pet or child is doing right in front of your eyes? Or are you going to live with intention- actively ready yourself for the day, create solid building blocks to work off off, seize the day and all the opportunities that come along with it- and make today better than yesterday? I know what choice I have made. I am embodying the morning affirmation this very moment and I am heeding Marden's wise words. I am motivated this Monday morning to make today outshine yesterday. Get out of bed! Casually eat a wholesome breakfast! Observe everything fantastic that surrounds you! Wear something that makes you feel special! Prepare yourself for today- it's time to fire up your engine- because this Monday will be special if you believe it to be so.

Remember every new day is full of potential- it's up to us to take advantage of it,

xo

And I will make today better than yesterday-