Take a deep breath in.
Let your entire rib cage expand.
Exhale,
Feel the release.
Inhale even deeper,
Feel the belly expand.
Exhale,
Release.
Continue to breathe deeply as you imagine yourself walking into a classroom.
See yourself opening the door,
Stepping inside a classroom.
Maybe it's a classroom from your childhood,
Or perhaps it's a classroom at your child's school.
Or maybe it's completely imagined.
All of these are fine.
Just see yourself inside a classroom.
Observe as many details in the classroom as possible.
See the carvings the students have made on the desktops.
Smell the staleness of the books that have been passed down from year to year.
Hear the tick,
Tock,
Tick,
Tock,
Tick,
Tock of the clock hanging on the wall over the blackboard.
And see now the blackboard.
Right in the middle of the blackboard you notice a projection screen attached to the top of the blackboard.
You walk over to the rolled up screen and you reach out with your hand and you pull the screen down.
Suddenly a light shines on the screen and then it flickers and you realize that a movie is starting.
You take a step back and you watch the screen and then you see the movie's title.
Your Perfect Day.
As you watch the title Your Perfect Day fade away the screen begins to be filled with images of you and your life,
Your family,
Your house,
Your day to day surroundings.
And in this movie of Your Perfect Day there is no worry.
There is no stress or anxiety.
There is no regret,
Doubt,
Or fear.
And this perfect day being projected before you is your life in complete joy,
Happiness,
And bliss.
In fact in this perfect day are all of the things that you would long to do.
All of the things that you say you would do or should do or could do if only you had the time or the resources.
Maybe it's laying on the beach with a good book.
Maybe it's playing in the ocean with your children.
Maybe it's snuggled up by a fire in a warm cabin in the middle of the woods while snow lightly falls in the dark night outside.
Maybe it's laying in bed doing absolutely nothing at all.
Whatever your perfect day would look like is what you're seeing on the screen before you know.
This day filled with so much love,
So much laughter,
So much happiness.
It brings a smile to your face even now just thinking about it.
As the last frame of your perfect day movie fades,
Take a deep breath and observe the sense of completeness,
Calmness,
Contented peace you feel in this very moment.
In your mind's eye,
I want you to reach out and gently tug on the projection screen,
Sending it back up into its place on top of the blackboard.
And now you notice on the blackboard where the screen once was hanging,
You see your to-do list.
And suddenly the smile begins to fade from your face and the joyous tone of your perfect day movie is replaced with a side of this list's errands,
Laundry loads,
Sinks of dishes,
Shopping for groceries,
Delivering kids to soccer practice or ballet class.
But before all hope is lost,
I want you to focus not on the lines and lines of things that must be done,
But instead bring your attention and your awareness to the spaces in between the lines.
The spaces that are free of things that must be done,
The spaces that hold infinite possibilities.
And here I want you to remember your perfect day movie.
I want you to look back and see yourself doing the things in your perfect day movie that brought you joy,
That led you to your bliss.
And I want you to begin to copy and paste,
Copy and paste all of those perfect,
Joyful memories taken from your perfect day movie and paste them here into the spaces of your to-do list.
And don't be afraid to edit them a little.
Instead of playing on the beach with your little ones,
Maybe turn them into a quick game of tag in the park between school and soccer practice.
Maybe instead of a full body massage and a five star resort,
You turn it into a manicure and pedicure in between the loads of laundry.
But cut and paste as many of your happy moments from your perfect day movie into the spaces between your to-dos.
And then take a step back and look at your new to-do list.
Look at how the day went from something that looked dull,
Monotonous and not exciting at all to a day filled with opportunities peppered with moments of joy and happiness.
Take a deep breath now and embrace the adventure of fitting in and finding these snippets of your perfect day and your regular work day.
Commit to yourself today to make room in every day for moments of fun,
Excitement,
Spontaneity,
So that we don't look back with a list of could have,
Should have and would haves,
But instead a list of wonderful memories.
Take a deep breath now and seal that commitment into your heart and into your mind.
Take one more deep breath in with a renewed outlook,
With a reframed mind,
With a refreshing spirit and with a smile on your face,
Open your eyes to the room.
Take a deep breath in with a smile on your face,
Open your eyes to the room.
Take a deep breath in with a smile on your face,
Open your eyes to the room.
