Monday, 8/21/23: Talking about seeing through the window of our mind

Happy Monday!

It’s a new week, which means it’s time for your next Monday motivation newsletter.

Read on below for some steps to a happier Monday, a short story and a roundup of positive thoughts to get your week started.

Three Steps to a Happier Monday

Each newsletter starts with three prompts to inspire gratitude and simple intention setting. Take a moment and jot down answers to these three questions. To give an example, I share my answers below.  

Step 1: What are three things I appreciated from the weekend? 

Step 2: What is one thing I can be excited about today?

Step 3: What is my intention for this week? 

GRATITUDE: I’m thankful for fun with friends on Saturday, amazing summer weather and time to relax. 

TODAY: Today I’m most excited for my run outside this morning.

INTENTION: My intention this week is to focus on cultivating calmness (more on this below). 

Okay, your turn! And if you want to share your three steps, I am all ears. 🙂

Meaningful Musings: Seeing Through The Window Of Our Mind

Sometimes I write to fully process a formed thought, and other times, I write to work through something that’s on my mind. This morning is more of the latter… here’s what’s on my mind right now: 

I recently picked up the book The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down from the library and am loving it. It’s an easy book to read whenever you’re in need of a boost as each chapter opens with an essay, followed by a series of short messages.

There’s one passage I really liked and wanted to share here. The author, Haemin Sunim, writes:

“We know the world only through the window of our mind. When our mind is noisy, the world is as well. And when our mind is peaceful, the world is, too. Knowing our minds is just as important as trying to change the world.”

This reminded me of something I read a few years ago in Brene Brown’s book The Gifts of Imperfection. In a chapter on gratitude and joy, she included the following passage from Lynne Twist’s book The Soul of Money.

Lynne writes:

“For me, and for many of us, our first waking thought of the day is ‘I didn’t get enough sleep.’  The next one is ‘I don’t have enough time.’  Whether true or not, that thought of not enough occurs to us automatically before we even think to question or examine it.  We spend most the hours and the days of our lives hearing, explaining, complaining, or worrying about what we don’t have enough of….  Before we even sit up in bed, we’re already inadequate, already behind, already losing, already lacking something.”

I think both of these passages resonate with me because, often, I get caught up in the noise, the busyness, the feeling of not having enough time. I get caught up in the thoughts that “occur automatically before we even think to question or examine them.”

But what these passages remind me – and what I want to bring into this new week – is the reminder that I’m not powerless when I’m feeling overwhelmed or like I don’t have enough of something. Overwhelmed may be the default, but I can do small things – like sitting in silence for a moment before a work call, shifting my glance upward, going for a walk around the block without my phone or thinking about what’s going well – to shift my perspective to a place of calm.

It sounds easy in theory – but it’s not. It doesn’t mean the hard stuff magically goes away, but if it’s true that we know the world only through the window of our mind, then we can be intentional about where we’re placing our focus. I know I want to focus more on calmness and contentment than busyness and scarcity. But that will take work and commitment. 

On My Monday Radar

Sometimes we just aren’t ready to jump into our Monday to-do list right away. In case you want some content to procrastinate with, here is a roundup of a few positive things on my radar:  

• The gift of a quiet life in a noisy world. An essay that’s “on theme” for today’s topic.
• I enjoyed listening to this podcast – The Science of Joy: Why You Need It and How to Get It – with author Ingrid Fetell Lee last week. Love her book Joyful. 
• I am going to Ireland next month and, per my mom’s recommendation, ordered these Brooklyn Ankle Pants. So excited to wear them! Very comfortable and seem great for traveling.
• On a fun note: Bon Appetit’s best countertop appliances of 2023. Entertaining to look through (a see-through toaster?!) .

Picture of the Week

That’s all for today! I hope you found something in today’s newsletter that sparked motivation, made you smile or inspired a positive Monday thought. Don’t underestimate the power of starting small… a fulfilling week starts with just one fulfilling day. You’ve got this! 

Let’s make it a great Monday!
Megan