Five Real Affirmations for the Day After

the human eye can distinguish about 10,000,000 different colors most days you probably only notice a handful in episode one sixty three we found words for day one for that brand new beginning but today is not day one today is the day after it's about what you do when the initial energy fades and the real work of seeing begins so here are five things to hold on to today not platitudes real tools first your attention is a spotlight it can be wide and diffuse washing over everything or it can be a tight focused beam you get to choose the world will try to pull that beam in a 100 different directions at once the notifications the

headlines the endless scroll let them you are the one at the controls right now in this moment point the beam where you want it to go to this breath to the feeling of your feet on the floor to the single most important task in front of you just one that is where the light is everything else can wait in the shadows second you do not have to solve everything at once let me say that again you do not have to solve the economy or your five year plan or the state of the world before you've had your coffee your only job is to solve for the next right thing the mountain of overwhelm is just

a pile of very small very manageable stones the next stone that's all is it answering one email is it putting the dishes in the sink is it making the phone call you've been dreading just do that pick up the one stone you can actually hold feel its weight then set it down and find the next one one then the next that is how you build a path through any wilderness third you have been here before maybe not in this exact spot with this exact challenge but you have been afraid before you have been tired you have been uncertain and you are still here your track record for surviving difficult days is so far 100% that

isn't optimism it's data that history is real it is written into your bones it's the quiet strength you feel when you think you have nothing left you can draw on that account today it has never been overdrawn it is your deepest most reliable reserve trust it fourth this is not a performance it is practice you are not on a stage and there is no audience waiting to applaud or to judge you are in the studio you are at the piano you are learning the piece some notes will be clear and resonant others will be flat some phrases will flow others will stutter that is the sound of learning that is the sound of growth give

yourself permission to make that sound today allow for the awkward chord allow for the missed beat the goal isn't a flawless recital the goal is to keep your hands on the keys and finally the world will be loud that is its nature that is its job your job is not to quiet the world that is an impossible task your job is to build a quiet room inside yourself a room with a solid door a room you can enter anytime you need to just by closing your eyes you can go there for ten seconds in the middle of a chaotic meeting you can go there for a full minute when the noise feels like it's too much the room is always there it is always waiting it is yours you don't need the world to get quiet you don't need anyone's permission to find your focus you just need

to decide where to point the light the calm you are looking for isn't out there waiting to be found it's in here you brought it with you now use it