A Simple Choice I Made To Turn My Day Around...

(...You Can Too!)

My kid doesn't sleep. 

He hasn't for a little over a month now.  I mean... he sleeps... but not enough. I can't figure out why.  He's fine it seems. But I'm exhausted.  I am cranky more often than not.  And every time he poops I get it on my hand. (EVERY. DAMN. TIME.)

Today was no different.  In an attempt to get more sleep, I told Kevin I would trade him more sleep for walking the dog later.  This is a bit of an ordeal because I'm doing it with a baby and a stroller and my dog is a bit of a dumb dumb and likes running TOWARDS cars... not away.  So it's not a super easy task doing it with the baby in tow as well.

But... later we head out for our walk. I've gotten like an extra half hour of sleep so I'm still exhausted but surviving.  And I look down at my dogs leash and it has dog poop on it.  I'm always surrounded by poop apparently.  Thank god for water, soap, and Purell.  So now I'm walking a baby in a stroller and a dog on a leash that has poop on it. It's a coordination NIGHTMARE.

We head out and make a loop.  It's super foggy so we don't go far and my dog is lagging behind so I'm basically dragging him the whole way.  And on our way back something pretty magical happens that changes my whole perspective for the day.

I found a dollar on the ground.

It's all wet and covered in dirt and not super fancy looking.  But it's a dollar!  It's FREE money!  And in that moment I made the decision to stop our little troupe dead in our tracks, look up to the sky and shout, "THANK YOU UNIVERSE!"

I took my crumpled dirty dollar back home with us, washed it off and left it to dry, and now it sits in my pocket, waiting to be spent on something wonderful.

I honestly felt grateful!  Partially for the money sure.  But really, hey, it's only a dollar.  I felt grateful because that one tiny thing was able to turn my whole day around because I let it.  I made the choice, in that moment, that that was the turning point.  I could have chosen to focus on the amount of feces in my life BUT. I. DIDN'T.

This is the power of choice. 

Whether you're trying to lose weight, de-stress, or make more money, you always have a choice about how to feel about your circumstances.

Want to lose 10 pounds and you know that means cutting out sugar?  Great!  Less money spent on dessert and more money for awesome experiences!  Know that in order to get some more alone time you need to say no to engagements with friends?  Awesome!  More time to finish that book you're loving!

Gratitude is KEY.  No matter what's happening, find something to be grateful for.  Make a habit of it.  Make it a game.  Write about it in your journal or call a friend to tell them what you're grateful for.  (Instead of calling them to complain about that co-worker of yours... AGAIN...)

CHOOSE to feel grateful.  That's your superpower ;)