How you Start the Day is How you End the Day

“How you start the day is how you end the day, ” said the voice-over on the YouTube clip I happened across this morning.

And after dragging my backside out of bed at 5.40 and heading out for a run in my beloved local park, I felt it.

Because as awful as a prospect this is, it’s a beautiful, powerful start to the day that my body and mind appreciate and reciprocate.

After this kind of positive start, I find it easier to eat good, wholesome, colourful breakfast; to listen to positive, empowering thoughts rather than the opposite; to notice my posture, keeping upright, confident and awake; to smile and be grateful for all I have.

Moreover, because I’ve done something difficult – ignoring the early-morning whinges of my brain, longing to stay in bed – and felt all the better for it, then I generally find it easier to follow through on tough choices through the day. Self-discipline, motivation and approaching my work with a ‘worst first’ attitude as opposed to procrastination… just doesn’t feel like such a brutal battle.

But I’m acutely aware that my bad habits are only a morning away. The urges are still there – to lie in, or to get up and veg in front of anxiety-provoking news; to scan through social media first thing in the morning or check work emails, before my brain has even woken up; to ignore the things that I said I’d do last night, and take the easy option instead, only to regret it later.

So whilst lately I’m all about the present moment, to avoid being pulled back into old patterns, urges and habits, I’m going to look towards the future – the end of the day – and consider how I’d like to feel then…. rather than what I do or don’t want right now.