What I learned from my 30 Day morning ritual challenge
When I started this challenge, my goal was to get back into my lost groove - after my dad’s death in February of 2018, I never seemed to be able to get back into my morning meditation and yoga routine. Losing my groove was hard, and I had a lot of judgment about myself. Guess what? Turns out, judgment is not at all a good motivator.
For the month of October, I committed to a morning ritual that consisted of the following activities: meditation for at least 10 minutes, drink at least 16 ounces of water, at least 10 minutes of yoga, at least 10 minutes of exercise and journal for at least 10 minutes. My intention was pretty focused specifically on kickstarting my old habit of daily meditation and yoga. My father in his last few years had to be admitted to the hospital twice for what turned out to be dehydration so I determined that I really needed to focus on increasing my water intake. My Perfect Avocado partner thinks I’m a writer, and I love doing it, and so I longed to give myself some time to write. Lastly, I needed to make exercise a routine.
What really happened? I did make it most every day for the month - in sickness and in health. , And I did achieve all of my stated goals. I felt all the physical benefits that I’d hoped for. I felt good. And good about myself.
AND, I was delighted and surprised by two unexpected consequences.
My first truly beautiful surprise was the effect that my new morning ritual had on the rest of my day. I found that I had more resilience for the curveballs that came at me at work and I had more patience for the cares of my family. Patience and resilience - nice bonus, right?
My second side effect of the morning ritual blew my mind. I found that making the commitment to create this Golden Hour, this commitment to time that was just for me, began to unconceal another challenge - my relationship money. I’ve known for a long time that this relationship needed attention, but having the time in the morning, seemed to rewire some connections and shifted my usual focus from work and family to … me! Not much changed outwardly, I still worked after all. And I still have a family. 🤷♀️ But whole worlds began to open for me!
I began to think about how I really spend my precious time. In my alone time, I no longer felt the need for escapist TV, books or games. Now, I found I wanted to read about money and listen to podcasts about money. Before, I would rather talk about sex than my checkbook. Now, I think and talk about money all the time - with strangers in the hottub (more on that later), with my children, and with friends. My sweetheart and I have addressed the elephant in our room and we are beginning to talk about money, budgets, and goals. I never would have thought that this would bring us together in the way that it has. We read aloud books about money and debt and planning. And it’s energizing. I have become focused on a plan to alter my relationship with money - because I’ve awakened to the fact this relationship affects all of my relationships.
So, yeah, this morning ritual challenge thing was a great big beautiful success beyond my wildest expectations. Picture me taking a bow.
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