Monday Morning Musings

Posted on May 4, 2020 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

 

“The Gift” – A Keith Currie original

 

Start with one simple, positive act.

It is very hard to remain positive these days. Most of us are cocooned in our homes, watching too much television and eating too much food. Not everyone, mind you. Our heroes working in nursing homes, tending to our love ones as they battle the specter of Covid-19 while battling loneliness, must show up for work every day. Ditto for all our health care workers, first responders and our RCMP who do their best to keep us safe even when all hell is breaking loose. Our grocery store employees and those actively involved in the supply chain are certainly not sitting at home picking out their next Netflix series.

How do we battle all the negative forces surrounding us? How do we overcome feelings of loneliness and despair? How do we reclaim optimism when it seems so elusive?

I have a suggestion and it doesn’t involve legalized marijuana.

Start your day off by making your bed.

Oh my, Len, you truly need to get way more fresh air and possibly some counselling… or both. “Are you suggesting that making my bed first thing in the morning is going to change everything?”

It might change your attitude.

You see, the simple act of making your bed is a small victory. You have just completed your first task of the day. It is a simple task, but you will feel like you started your day on a positive note. From there, you can just build on it. It might encourage you to do other things. This is where your “to do” list comes in real handy.

I am a notorious list maker. Of course, I always have a grocery list on the go on my fridge. The fridge is a very popular place these days. Long before I started having lapses in memory, I was a list maker. (You know the kind – you walk down the hall and enter a room and can’t remember what you were looking for? Yup. I see you nodding. Glad it’s not just me!), Lists remind us of the things we want to accomplish on any given day. There is something very satisfying about putting a check mark beside a job completed. I seriously believe it triggers dopamine. Dopamine is one of those feel good chemicals in our brain that plays a vital role in how happy we feel.

Three positive things.

Long before Covid-19, I was struggling in my new role as a classroom teacher in Northern Quebec. I have admitted openly and will do so again in this space, that I felt completely overwhelmed when I arrived in the north. I left home with most of my worldly possessions including some personal baggage which I have been trying to unpack. I arrived in November. The days were long and dark. It was bitterly cold and I found myself back in a classroom for the first time in 40 years.

About two months in, I was laying out my woes to one of my work colleagues. After listening to me bitch, whine and complain, she offered me this piece of advice: “Every morning when you get up, write down three positive things that happened to you in the past 24 hours.” I liked the idea but wasn’t sure if I could conjure up three positive things. I realized that these didin’t have to be big things. Drinking the first cup of coffee is a positive thing. No, it is much more important than THAT. It is the salvation of mankind. While your coffee is brewing, make your bed.

That small piece of advice got my dopamine firing. It wasn’t dramatic at first, but I did find in time, that I started to look for positive things in my day. And I started to feel more optimistic.

Making your bed. Writing down a “to do” list. Trying to find a few positive things every day. None of these will help in finding a vaccine for Covid-19 but they may help you get through the next day with a bit more purpose.

You’ve made your bed, now lie on it.

But don’t forget to make it once you get up!

Have a great week.

P.S.

I would like to propose to town and county officials that they host a massive post coronavirus party when better days allow us to mingle. Music, dance, art, and food from our local restaurants would go a long way in bringing back joy and community.

P.P.S. I commissioned a former classmate of mine from high school and university, Keith Currie,to paint this picture. A friend in Northern Quebec gave me some seal ribs and arctic char as a gift.