I was having a rough day, mentally speaking. One of those days where your brain finds a way to paint everything in a negative light. As I was mindlessly scrolling Instagram (an issue for another day), I saw this post by Humble the Poet. It stopped me in my tracks because it’s something I preach but in this moment I certainly wasn’t practicing it. 

How many times have you let a bad moment take over your whole day?

You let that one bad thing, no matter how small or insignificant, drag your whole day in the dumps.  You get home, your partner asks you how your day was, and all you can think about is that ONE BAD MOMENT. 

It’s easy to let this happen, so please, don’t feel bad or guilty. Our brain’s are wired to focus on the negative- it’s a survival mechanism. But, it’s also completely unfair to continue to do this to yourself. You don’t deserve it.

This still happens to me, especially when my stress is weighing on me and I haven’t gotten in for a float, but I’ve been working on it. So, if you find yourself in my shoes and feel like this is something worth exploring, try this…

FIND YOUR GRATITUDE. (OR FIND YOUR SMALL VICTORIES.)

It can be elusive. It can hide itself. But it’s always available if you’re open to receiving it.

Something as simple as being grateful for clean clothes, a good meal, and a comfortable bed. 

Or something as deep as the love and support of your partner or friend (another thing we too often take for granted).

When I’m in a particularly bad spiral, I go back to journaling.

What were my wins this week?

What am I grateful for?

If I’m struggling, I start with the basics….”I have a pen and paper. That’s more than a lot of people have. I have electricity to be able to see what I’m writing. I have the TIME to write. There is food in the fridge…” So on and so forth. As I build up from this foundation, it gets a lot easier to let go of the negativity, and really put some perspective on how insignificant most of our problems really are.

This is also a practice you can try while floating. Just be warned, you might end up smiling uncontrollably in the tank as you float around appreciating all that your own little world has to offer.