Hello.
Good morning and welcome.
I'm Mark and I'm really glad you're here.
Thank you.
Before you get caught up in everything you have to do today,
I just thought we could spend a few minutes together.
Just you and me.
Taking a little time to start the morning on a good note.
And I'd like to begin by reminding you of something.
And that is,
You know,
You don't have to wake up feeling amazing to have a good day.
Some mornings,
We wake up full of energy,
Ready to take on the world,
But… of the mornings,
Maybe more than most.
Well.
We'd quite happily pull the duvet back over our heads and stay there for another hour.
Or maybe two.
And that's all part of being human,
Isn't it?
But however you're feeling this morning.
I'm so glad that you've given yourself just these few minutes.
See.
Get yourself nice and comfortable.
If you're in bed maybe you can sit up with the pillows behind you or find a comfortable chair.
Just stay exactly where you are.
If you'd like to close your eyes,
Go ahead.
And just take a nice easy breath in and slowly breathe out.
Let's do that once more.
Breathing in feeling your body gently expand.
And breathing out.
Allowing your shoulders to relax.
There's nowhere else you need to be for these next few minutes.
The emails,
The jobs,
The plans.
Any people waiting for something from you.
They can all wait just a little longer.
Right now,
We're going to give you some encouragement for your day ahead.
.
.
And I have a few things.
I'd really like you to remember.
The first is this.
I am enough.
Exactly.
I am today.
Let those words settle for a moment.
I am enough,
Exactly as I am today.
Now,
I know that can be a quite difficult thing to believe sometimes.
We're so used to measuring ourselves against what we've achieved,
How productive we've been,
How well we're doing compared with everyone else.
We can start the morning already feeling like we're behind,
Thinking about all those things we should have done yesterday or everything we need to get through today.
But just know that your worth as a person was never ever dependent on how much you managed to accomplish.
You were enough yesterday.
And you are enough this morning.
And you know what?
You'll still be enough when you climb into bed tonight.
Regardless of how the day has gone.
Say.
If you feel comfortable.
Say these words to yourself.
I am enough.
I don't have to prove my worth today.
I am enough.
I don't have to prove my worth today.
And take another comfortable breath.
Here's something else I'd love for you to carry into your morning.
I can take today,
One step at a time.
I can take today,
One step at a time.
You know,
Sometimes the hardest part of the morning is that our minds have already raced off way ahead of us.
We're thinking about something happening this afternoon,
Maybe a conversation we need to have,
A decision maybe we've been avoiding.
Or perhaps we're worrying about things that haven't even happened yet.
And then before we've properly started the day we're exhausted by just the thought of it But here's your little reminder that you don't have to live the entire day all at once.
Because you only ever have to meet the moment.
That you're in now.
And right now this moment is quite simple.
You are here?
You are breathing.
You were listening to my voice and.
.
.
You're doing absolutely fine.
Later on there'll be something else to attend to.
And when that moment arrives.
You can give it your attention.
For now.
.
.
Let yourself enjoy the fact that you don't have to solve everything before breakfast.
So,
Let's repeat those words.
I can take today,
One step at a time.
I can deal with things as they come.
Now,
I'd like you to think about the way you speak to yourself.
Because.
.
.
If we're being completely truthful.
Some of us can be pretty hard on ourselves,
Can't we?
We make a mistake and immediately there's that voice telling us that we should have known better.
We forget something and suddenly we're calling ourselves useless.
We have a difficult day and start questioning whether we're doing anything right at all.
If a good friend came to us feeling exactly the same way.
I suspect we'd speak to them rather differently.
We'd find encouragement to offer them.
We'd remind them of all the things that they were getting right.
And we'd recognise that.
They are trying their best.
So why shouldn't we offer ourselves some of that same kindness?
Here's our next affirmation.
I deserve the same kindness I give to others.
Deserve the same kindness that I give to others.
And I'd really like you to think about that because.
.
.
You are someone who deserves patience.
You are someone who deserves understanding and encouragement too.
Even when you've made a mistake,
Even when you're feeling a little bit lost,
And even when you haven't lived up to your own expectations,
You are deserving and you are worthy of love,
Kindness and patience,
Too.
So today.
When you notice yourself becoming maybe overly critical.
See if you can speak to yourself.
As you would speak to someone you genuinely care about.
You can be honest with yourself and you can acknowledge the things you need to work on.
And you can do all of that.
Without being cruel to yourself.
I deserve kindness.
I am allowed.
To be human.
Take another slow breath in.
And let it go.
Now there's another thing I want you to remember about this morning.
I have handled difficult days before.
And I can trust myself to meet this one.
Think about everything you've already lived through.
All those mornings when you weren't sure how you were going to manage.
All the difficult conversations,
The disappointments,
The unexpected changes that pop up.
The times when life asked more of you than you felt you were able to give.
And yet.
.
.
Here you are this morning.
You've learned so many things along the way.
You've found ways to adapt.
You've discovered strengths that you didn't always know that you had.
And I think we sometimes forget to give ourselves credit for that,
Don't we?
Of course,
Being capable doesn't mean you have to manage everything all alone.
You can ask for help and you can change your plans.
And it's okay to admit that something is difficult.
But please,
Please don't underestimate yourself,
Because you have experience of getting through challenging moments.
And that experience belongs to you.
So let's remind ourselves.
I trust myself to handle what I can.
End.
I can ask for support when I need it.
I trust myself to handle what I can and I can ask for support when I need it.
And now for our final affirmation.
I want to turn our attention towards something rather lovely.
The possibility of.
Enjoying today.
Because I think sometimes we can get so caught up in trying to get through our days that we can forget easily that we are actually allowed to enjoy them.
We're waiting for the weekend,
Waiting for a holiday,
Waiting until we finished everything,
Waiting until life feels maybe a little less complicated.
And in the meantime,
There are all these small little moments that are passing us by.
The first sip of a really good cup of coffee in the morning.
A ray of sunshine coming through the window.
Maybe a favourite song playing in the car unexpectedly.
The pleasure of finally sitting down after a busy morning.
Things like those really count and they are part of our lives too.
And you don't have to earn the right to enjoy them.
So.
.
.
Here is our final affirmation.
I am open to finding something good in today.
Am open to finding something good in today.
We don't know exactly what today is going to bring.
And do you know what?
I actually rather like that because alongside the ordinary responsibilities and challenges.
There may just be something enjoyable waiting for us,
Something funny,
Something interesting,
An unexpected moment of connection,
Or simply maybe a little time when we feel content with just where we are.
Safe.
As you move through your day.
See if you can keep an eye out for those little moments and.
.
.
When you do find one.
Allow yourself to appreciate it.
Now,
Before we finish,
Let's just take one more comfortable breath together.
Breathing in.
And breathing out.
And let's just remember those few things that we've talked about this morning.
You are enough just as you are.
You can take the day just one step at a time.
You deserve to treat yourself with kindness and you can trust yourself to meet life's challenges.
And all say.
You're allowed to enjoy being alive.
Even when life isn't perfect.
I really hope you take some encouragement from that with you today.
And if things don't go entirely to plan,
Well,
That's okay too.
You can begin again at any point and you don't have to wait until tomorrow morning.
And just one last thing before I let you go.
I hope you give yourself.
A little credit today.
For the things you do.
For the effort you make.
And for the person that you are because I think you're probably doing a lot better than you actually give yourself credit for.
Thank you so much for spending these few minutes with me.
I sincerely hope something lovely happens for you today.
And I hope that when it does,
You take a moment to enjoy it.
Take care of yourself.
Have a beautiful rest of your morning.
Go in peace.
Namaste.
