Status Update: Create a Life You Can’t Wait to Wake Up To

Hi Friends, I’m back after a week of learning for some Continuing Ed coursework. Something I learned when I got my nursing degree in my late 40’s – early 50’s is that I LOVE being a student. I certainly didn’t love it when I was in my teens and early twenties, but now in my 50’s . . . If I could find a way to be a perpetual student, sitting in the front row with my multicolored pens and sticky notes . . . I’d do it. Yep, I’ve become that girl. So, needless to say, when I find the opportunity to take a class, I jump on it!

During the rest of my “out of office” week, I tackled a few things on my to-do list . . . but not all of them (of course). And, I took some serious downtime to do some self-reflection. I’ve had a lot of changes in the last year, so I checked in on myself:

• How am I doing?
• What’s working?
• What’s not working?
• Which led to this . . .

My first post in January (here), when we were all excited about a bright and shiny New Year, included my mantra for 2025:

I checked in with myself on how I’m doing with that goal. The cold hard truth is that I had forgotten about it the past two months. I’ve been caught up in my routine’s “busyness” and have fallen into the default mode of just getting through my week. The problem with that default mode is that it can cause us to feel flat and uninspired.

The first thing I realized is that I needed to really think about what this mantra means to me . . . and what it doesn’t. A goal must be definable, and as much as I loved the words in the mantra, I hadn’t defined them for myself or thought about how to get myself to that place.

• I acknowledged that “Creating a Life I Can’t Wait to Wake Up To” doesn’t mean I’m expecting to wake up ecstatic every day with super fun and exciting plans.
• To me it means Contentment. That hard-to-describe sense of “ahhhh – this is nice”. It’s the serene sigh that comes with savoring a moment.

So in the interest of boosting my personal goal to create a life worth savoring and hopefully inspire you to do the same, let’s take a look at some ways we can actively and intentionally make moves in that direction. This won’t be a list of extra health-habits we should adopt . . . or foods we should eat . . . or ways we should move our bodies. Instead, this will be a guide to Elevating our Ordinary by seeking and experiencing contentment in our daily routine.

~ Noticing

Noticing the little things requires us to be present. Noticing the way it feels to sit down and enjoy my coffee in the morning. Noticing how pretty the light is during certain times in the day. Being present and aware enough to notice the tiny little details in my everyday routine that are beautiful.

When we open the door to noticing the finer points of our daily routine, it might encourage us to elevate some of the more mundane parts of our day. In paying attention to the details we enjoy, we may find new ways to infuse joy into the parts of our day that are . . . well . . . not so fun.

For example: I’m not a fan of folding laundry. I have friends for whom folding laundry is soothing and gratifying. For me it is . . . not. But then I noticed that I was doing all of my folding in our windowless little laundry room. Granted, in our remodel, I had designed that room with lots of new counter space for optimal folding conditions. However, it’s built into a hillside, so I couldn’t control the lack of daylight or the fact that I was super-bored in there. So I changed my location. I haul the basket of clothes up to our super-bright bedroom and I fold clothes on our bed. Although I’m not a big TV during the day person, I have been treating myself to re-watching “Sex and The City” while I fold clothes. Just little snippets of a fun show while I fold elevates a mundane task into a little treat.

By Noticing that my laundry folding nuisance could be enhanced with a few tweaks, I was able to shift it from a mundane burden to a fun part of my routine that I actually look forward to.

~ Practicing Gratitude

So – I’m trying to notice lovely little moments throughout my day, and once I’ve noticed them, I remind myself to take a little pause to be grateful. There’s a reason we hear so much about Practicing Gratitude. Whether you write it in a journal, say it out loud, or just silently express to yourself that you are grateful for some little tidbit . . . the conscious act of feeling and expressing gratitude not only helps us attain that sense of Contentment, it also has massive Mental and Physical Health Benefits:

Mental Health Benefits of Practicing Gratitude:

• Feelings of Gratitude can help with mood regulation and coping with negative emotions.
• Practicing Gratitude can enhance our ability to be resilient, optimistic, and adaptable.
• The practice of gratitude can reduce stress and anxiety.

Physical Health Benefits of Practicing Gratitude:

• Reduction of stress and anxiety leads to improved sleep quality.
• The act of gratitude has been found to improve biomarkers associated with cardiovascular health:
  • it lowers diastolic blood pressure
  • regulates respiratory rate, which, in turn, lowers heart rate
• Practicing Gratitude has been found to reduce inflammation in our bodies.
• This reduction in inflammation also works to support our immune system.

~ Showing Yourself Grace

Let’s not be so hard on ourselves. It would be so easy for me to be frustrated with myself for basically forgetting to practice the mantra I set in January. But how would that serve me and my goal? Typically, we are so willing to show others grace, but we often neglect to show it to ourselves.

Showing Ourselves Grace Involves:

Not “Shoulding” Ourselves:

• “I should have done this.” “I should be doing that.”
• “Shoulds” are exhausting, and as women, our “shoulds” are endless because we expect ourselves to effortlessly wear so many hats. We “should” be excellent at our jobs while being perfect mothers and keeping an exquisite home full of healthy, homemade meals . . . .
• What if we try to consciously check in with ourselves when we catch ourselves thinking or saying “I should”?

Allowing Ourselves to Be Bad at Some Things

• This is “shoulding” – adjacent.
• The Perfectionist in me wants to be good at everything.
• Are you freaking kidding me? No one is good at everything!
• I love to bake. The stuff I bake usually tastes great! BUT I am BAD at decorating cakes or making a pie look pretty. Guess what? That’s okay!!
• You guys know I love yoga . . . BUT I tip over a lot. I’m objectively bad at yoga, but I still enjoy it.
• Having the ability to laugh at ourselves and accept that there are some things we just aren’t good at is a gift. It’s a HUGE RELIEF from the pressure we place on ourselves.

Showing Ourselves Grace means Taking a Break When We Need it:

• Remember the piece I wrote about feeling “meh” and taking a “Snow Day”? Go back and re-read here. Everyone needs to take a break to reboot and recharge.
• And taking a break is different from sitting down to write your to-do list and update your calendar. Taking a break is . . . NOT doing that stuff.
• In order to reboot, your computer must shut down. Turn off. We need that too.

Celebrating Our Progress

• Why is it so hard to celebrate ourselves and call-out our wins? Is it because we think it’s braggy? Go ahead and brag! In 2025 with all the crap out there in the world, if you’ve had a little win . . . a little step of progress . . . freaking celebrate that!!
• Sometimes just acknowledging and cheering about a baby step in the right direction helps us take the next step.
• No goal worth achieving is accomplished in a single step. And sometimes the goal is going to require step . . . after step . . . after step. And some of these steps may involve Really. Hard. Work. If we don’t celebrate our progress, how do we expect ourselves to stay positive and motivated?
• I’m not going to tell you how to celebrate. You do you! But for goodness sake . . . take the time to pat yourself on the back. I’m certain you’ve earned it.

I hope this little update helps you kick off your week on a positive note. We each deserve a life full of moments that we can savor! Have a wonderful day, and I’ll see you back here on Wednesday!