I have a morning routine that I love! I get up about 3 hours before I “need” to be ready. I have my coffee on auto-start so it’s brewed and hot by the time I get out of bed. I bring my mug of coffee next door and sit in my comfy chair while I spend about 45 minutes reading devotionals and checking my email (basically deleting junk before the day starts). Then I pull station cards, set up for the day, and do my own personal workout. After that it’s breakfast and a shower then I’m ready for my day to start!
This is an excerpt from one of my devotionals on Thanksgiving day. “A seed is anything valuable that you give away. When you give away praise, there’s value to that. When you give away good advice, there’s value to that. When you give away your time, there’s value to that. When you give away your money, there’s value to that. When you share your experience to help other people, there’s value to that. When you give your love away, there’s great value to that. It all starts as a seed, whether it’s your time, money, appreciation, wisdom, or energy. Your words can also be seeds that you plant in people’s minds. They grow and they bear fruit. So you need to choose your words wisely, especially when you’re talking with people that you love, like your children, your husband, your wife, and your friends. Let me ask you this: What kind of seeds are you planting in your relationships? Are you planting seeds of trust, or are your planting seeds of distrust? Are you planting seeds of kindness, or are you planting seeds of crankiness? Are you planting seeds that build up, or are you planting seeds that tear down? Remember: You will reap whatever you sow.”
WOW! Powerful stuff there! I pondered and thought about what I’m planting. Really, what am I planting?! Am I doing the best I can with what I have, who I have in my life, and where I am? Can I do better than I am? I know I can! I will! So then I started my workout with that thought already in my mind. I like to listen to Podcasts while I work out. This particular morning I was listening to a podcast by Fit n Chips (click HERE for episode) and her guest was talking about getting strong, but also about your thoughts becoming your actions: what you think becomes a reality. Seriously? Two reminders about planting seeds and reaping what you sow before 7am in the morning! Apparently there IS a message here that is meant for me to hear. So I thought about my day.
This Thanksgiving both of my parents were going to be celebrating with us at the same time. They haven’t been in a room together in about four years, by choice. The day could have gone ok or horribly. Based on past experience, I wasn’t optimistic. But hey, I had a choice – choose to think positive and plant a seed for peace or have a horrible day being on edge. I chose peace. We all chose peace that day and all disasters were averted! It was a pleasantly peaceful day for which we were all thankful. Lesson for me: only plant seeds for things you want to grow: Forget all the drama, reframe the picture, think positively, and be the good you want to see in others.
What does this have to do with exercise? Nothing per se, but it does have to do with the people your share your time with. In my studio,we are all part of an incredibly powerful and positive community. If I can share a little bit of goodness and plant seeds of positivity, self love, and empowerment among any of them, my hope is that they can share that with others outside the studio and we can make a positive change in our community. Are you ready to plant seeds of greatness in your community?