Happy Monday everyone!

In my 4th quarter of 2020 I have been trying to fit the pieces of my life puzzle together along with trying to approach things all with fresh eyes even when the days of Covid  seem old, routine, or just plain bland.

Saturday was going to be my day to get out and check out something new. “Novel November, here I come! “ Well, I woke up with a headache, puffy eyes, and zero energy. I was not sick, it was just my allergies. I procrastinated  throughout the morning hoping to “ wake up” a little bit more before heading out the door. I totally forgot to enjoy the moment with my cat, Gracie, my yummy coffee, and relaxing music. I was too focused on the fact that I wasn’t exploring or hiking yet to enjoy what was in front of me. I had a definite idea what the day should look like, darn it.  Fast forward to early afternoon. I decided to head to the Poudre trail and do the nature trail for some fresh air. When I got there the nature trail was closed. “ What? It looks fine to me.” I could have done the multipurpose trail but it was crowded and harder on the joints. My frustration from the work week was making little mole hills in my life seem like huge mountains. I do have a flair for the dramatic. “ Fine. I will walk my neighborhood just like I have all week. Grumble , grumble.”

It was then that I remembered advice I received several weeks ago. The advice was to turn the thought   “I have to do this” into the thought “I get to do this or I choose to do this.” The advice came when I had to miss my sister, Cindy’s, birthday as well as celebrating several other family member<s birthdays due to being in quarantine  for to Covid exposure at school. So, instead of telling myself I had to miss loved ones birthday celebrations, I began to tell myself I am choosing to miss the birthday parties because I love my family. It took some time to convince myself, but slowly it began to work.

Remembering this as I began my neighborhood walk, I told myself “ I get to walk through my beautiful neighborhood.” Soon I was looking for rabbits, noticing trees still holding onto their leaves, and smiling at the fall decorations on various front porches. Yes, I felt great contentment and noticed a few new things in a very familiar place.

Well, I hadn’t thought about changing thought patterns as being a part of Novel November but now I think that could be the best thing for me yet.

Here’s to novel ways of thinking about our days, activities, and frustrations. 

I would love to hear your thoughts and comments.

As always, thanks for stopping by the blog.

Until next time,

Laura