Good morning!

How do you say good morning? It’s something you take for granted, but if you stop and think about it for a moment, then you realise that it can be different depending on the situation. For me, anyway.

There is the workday good morning. Monday mornings, it could be a slightly subdued version, depending on how much you slept the night before, or if you’ve had a big weekend which was packed with full of action.  It goes something like this – ‘hey, how are you’. Quiet, and slither over to the desk to get cracking on the first meeting of the day. Trying to avoid the painful guys in sales along the way.

Or how about the mid-week version. You’ve gotten the first few days of the week over and done with, so you’re pretty much feeling pleased with yourself. Everything at work is on track, your mood is lighter and you’ve probably had a good night’s sleep, or watched an episode of your favourite TV show. The minutes from the meeting you have to tackle don’t feel like they are a hardship, and yes, you even have a ‘bring it on’ attitude towards working on a project you’ve been putting off. ‘Hi everyone!’

FRIDAY! It’s the golden moment. You know when you walk through the door at work, that this is THE day. It’s the prelude to something wonderful. Doesn’t even matter what you have planned, it’s still going to be great. And if you do have something in the calendar that you’ve been looking forward to – well, even better. You walk in with a spring in your step, a light heart and a very ‘happy Friday’ kinda attitude. I want to be hanging with you at the coffee machine in the lunchroom on Friday morning – you give off a happy buzz of energy! Loads of smiles, cheery greetings and general goodwill. Maree H – I am thinking of you as I write this. ‘Well hello Friday!’

Then it’s Saturday morning. It’s a lazy, but very relaxed and happy ‘good morning’ moment with hugs and kisses for the family or whoever is around. It’s lots of questions – ‘did you sleep well?’ or ‘what would you like for breakfast?’ followed up with ‘what will we do today, isn’t the weather beautiful.’ Aaahhhh – these are the moments we take for granted, so beautiful and happy.

Sunday – not quite as joyous as Saturday (after all, there is the MONDAY tomorrow hanging over you) but still – a whole day ahead! Life is good! How delicious, how will I spend this wonderful day?!

I have had lots of moments where I’ve been in a happy ‘Good morning’ type of vibe, only to have someone tackle me first thing with a problem which blew any positive attitude I had out of the water. At work (where this happened a lot), it was people with problems, or aggressive people, or people who just ignored you. At home – it was things like ‘where is my school shirt’, or ‘why didn’t you get any milk’. And I have always taken this on board and made it my problem.

It’s funny, since changing jobs, I’ve changed this life-long habit of thinking about my good mornings in this way.

What difference should it make what day it is?

Why would I be influenced by the people around me?

I really want to make the most of the fact that every day is a brand spanking new fresh one. Work – Home Life, doesn’t really make a difference in the scheme of things. It’s ALL good.

So the ‘good morning’ starts for me with a routine, which includes thankfulness or gratitude, meditation, reflection on what I want to offer that day, and positive thoughts about what I want to achieve, or even just thinking about what I can do for others. Or you might have an exercise habit, or a great breakfast routine.

And you wouldn’t believe what a difference it makes. Just the gratitude alone is enough to make you realise that there is so much good around you.

I’ve realised it really is a choice. You can choose to let other people decide for you how your day is going to be, or you can own it. Sure, maybe sometimes it won’t be 100% perfect, but that’s ok. At least you’re giving it a red hot go.

What could you do for someone today to make sure their morning is a great one? Perhaps a text message, or a nice note on their desk or in their lunchbox.

So, lovely readers, good morning! Happy Monday, hope you have a wonderful day.

Laurel