Seven Day Mental Diet Challenge Day One Update

It may be a bit premature to celebrate a successful day one of the Seven Day Mental Diet Challenge, but I'm feeling really good about what I have accomplished today. It's not like it was one of those picture perfect days where I had nothing to do except watch old movies and drink cold drinks in front of the fan. It was an ordinary day, filled with ordinary chores and your typical ordinary mishaps. The exciting part is that I handled them all with a positive frame of mind and didn't let them ruin my day.

When thoughts of my daughter going off to college in the fall whispered quietly in my ear of how much I'd miss her, I turned them around. I thought of how much fun she will have and how I will have more time for writing when the nest is empty. I thought of sleeping in, of staying up late and reading or writing till the wee hours of dawn. I thought of how strong we would both grow in the coming years. I thought of all the good things about to happen in both our lives. I focused on the positive.

When the nozzle came off the hose and I tried to put it back on -- with the hose turned on -- I laughed at getting wet instead of calling myself stupid.

At the end of the day, when some chores were left undone, I simply made a note to do them tomorrow and resisted the urge to lecture myself for what I hadn't done.

And now, I sit in my garden, listening to the wind in the trees and the random call of a bird not yet asleep and I breathe in clean fresh air. My daisies dance in the breeze, the horizon fades slowly to yellow then white as it bids the sun goodnight and the wind chimes sing a lullaby to the world. Soft patches of blue peek through the clouds and I know that my day has been well spent.

Today, I am grateful for the wondrous world about me teeming with life. I am grateful for dragon flies that swoop gracefully through the air. I am grateful for the wind that cools the day, for a clothesline to dry my clothes and for stars. 

I am grateful for family that makes me strong, for  friends who share a laugh, and for strangers that cross my path. 

And, I am grateful for you, dear reader, as you stop to share my day. May you find success in the Seven Day Mental Diet as you go forward in the direction of your dreams.