The Morning Cycle: Anxiety, Dread, Negativity
“The only pressure I’m under is the pressure I’ve put on myself.”
Mark Messier
I would go to bed every night promising myself that everything will be okay and that my life is generally pretty good and that I’m reasonably successful. I’d remind myself of all the wonderful things that are happening and how grateful I should feel.
Then morning would come, as it always does, and I’d wake up with anxiety and dread. I would have a dozen terrible thoughts running through my head and literally feel heavy from the weight of these thoughts while still laying in bed! (Do thoughts actually have weight? I’m betting the negative ones do!)
Even before I’d rouse myself to start a new day and see what actually transpires, my thoughts had already made up stories that scared me to even face the day.
What if I have a car accident (one of my worst fears)? What if I have a disease I don’t know about? What if I lose someone I love today? What if this or that awful thing comes to be, what am I to do?
And on and on these negative thoughts would circulate my head as I showered and dressed and got ready for my day. I would wear a fake smile, look all happy and smart on the outside, and go about my day, feeling anything but peaceful.
By mid day, the morning’s anxious thoughts would dissipate and the busyness of the day would take over, but I’d be physically depleted from fighting this war in my head every single morning.
How I Found My Way out of Negativity
Then a few years ago, I stumbled upon something called “positive affirmations“, these first-person present-tense mantras or statements that you repeat over and over to cultivate a positive calm state of mind.
The skeptic in me poked fun at affirmations for the longest time, but the curiosity was thankfully stronger so I gave them a try. Every day, I’d start repeating three simple affirmations before even getting out of bed.
“I am feeling strong and healthy today. I am grateful and happy for my life. I trust myself.”
I did this for a week and let’s just say, by the end of that week, I could no longer justifiably make fun of positive affirmations! They worked miracles in my mind.
So I’m here to tell you today that you are not alone.
If you wake up with anxiety and stress, you are not alone.
If you think of all that could go wrong before the day has even started, you are not alone.
If your first thoughts in the morning are not peaceful, you are not alone.
Millions of people wake up with stress and anxiety every day. Science and medicine has researched and proven the harmful effects of negative thoughts and stress.
Stress and anxiety can have serious negative long-term effects on your physical health, your mental well being, your relationships, your job performance, your finances and your opportunities in life. Don’t let it do that to you!
Ready to heal your negativity?
“If you realised how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.” – Peace Pilgrim
You know the worst part? Most people don’t ever learn that changing their thoughts is within their complete power. So they remain slaves to their own thoughts – most of which are negative.
It turns out that you can choose your thoughts and if you can choose, then choose positive thoughts. It is a skill that you can develop at any age and stage in your life.
You have the brainpower, the smarts, and all the tools that you need to decide which thoughts you allow and which ones you forbid. It’s marvellous really when you get the hang of it.
The most effective tool to use to direct the right thoughts in and the wrong ones out is daily affirmations. When you learn how to incorporate daily affirmations into your life, first, you become aware.
You become aware of your thoughts and of what is going on in your head. You become aware of your natural tendency to think negative thoughts in certain (or most) situations.
Awareness helps you identify when the patterns are happening so that you can then use affirmations to reverse such patterns.
With the power of daily affirmations, the energy flow of your thoughts changes. You will infuse more positive energy into your mind and become aware of the potential negative energy surrounding you.
10 Daily Affirmations to Memorise Now
“I am safe. All is well. Everything comes to me at the right time.” ~Louise Hay
If daily tools are not quick and easy to use, we’re not likely to stick with them even if the benefits are huge. That’s why I pulled together a list of only 10 short and easy-to-memorise daily affirmations that are both effective and energising in helping you feel inner peace and excitement. It is best to say these first thing in the morning. Repeat each affirmation three times and do this for one week to start getting results.
I am enough.
I wake up happy and productive.
I accept my true identity.
I trust myself and my decisions.
I love and approve of myself.
I am worthy of happiness and respect.
I bring great energy to all things I do.
My body is healing itself all the time.
Gratitude is my default emotion in all things.
My life serves a purpose.
I included mostly first-person affirmations, because they’re generally the simplest ones to start with. You can memorise the list in pairs at first. Memorise two then another two and then keep adding. Or you can pick and choose your favourite affirmations from the list and only use those.
Remember: You are important. You are capable. You are smart. And you are worthy of love and happiness. Your thoughts may lie to you until you start to drive the negative thoughts out and focus on the positive ones. Affirmations can help you do this and much more. Give yourself another chance. Let affirmations be the start of your happiness now.
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