Musing No. 2: Cultivate

My decisions today,

will define my tomorrow.

Each morning, before I write in my journal, I look at my vision board. Moving from image to image and seeing myself in it. I repeat my chosen words - health, wealth, adventure, connection, joy, kindness, grace, gratitude. It's a simple ritual consciously done to set me up for a positive today, tomorrow, and life.

And, yet.

It usually doesn't hold. I move on after journaling and get into my day. I begin to follow habits that don't build upon this beautiful beginning. Gradually, I drain off the hopeful energy, depleting it over time.

While I eat breakfast, I often get into news or mindlessly scrolling. While working, I take "breaks" to look at garbage that doesn't serve me.

I have learned and incorporated so many nutrition, health, and fitness practices. And then I let junk and lazy, thoughtless actions infiltrate my mind, influence my emotions, and eventually tank my spirit.

These decisions (which are decision, even though they're auto-pilot right now), define my today and all my tomorrows. Meaning, they are not benign, but powerful.

I'm not consciously choosing mental health and wellness. I'm not pausing to consider what I'm doing, or reading, or watching and how it all really and truly affects me. I'm not intentionally filling my body-mind with nourishment and cultivating the life I seek to live.

Change begins where my day began. With a plan. A plan that builds upon my vision for myself, my life's purpose. How I choose to live my whole day, is how I choose to live my whole life.

And so it is.