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100 Days of Gladness: Day 32

Shifting my attitude, right there in the shower


Image courtesy of stock.adobe.com

It’s not often I catch myself griping in the moment.That usually happens long after the event — in journal pages, or during meditation, or in conversation with a friend.


But today it happened immediately.

I caught myself, and shifted.

No big long process, no step by step system.

Just, boom.

Pivot.

Better life.


I’m standing in the shower at the gym, mildly pissed.

I had worked out a little, planning to treat myself with a swim at the end. But by the time I got to the pool, all the lanes were filled — two people per lane, and they’d all just started.


I waited a bit, then gave up and nestled into my reliable background ‘noise’ of dissatisfaction.


This is a well-worn state for me. It’s an emotional static that’s become so prevalent, I’ve often mistaken it for my actual self. And, left to its own devices, this bad attitude can piss on every aspect of my day for days, weeks, months on end.


But for some reason, today a little voice piped up.“Make the list.”


So I did.

Thank you for hot water.

Thank you for hot running water.

Thank you for hot, clean, running water.

Thank you for privacy and safety in this shower stall.

Thank you for soap.

Thank you for eyelids that close.

Thank you for legs, so I can stand here.

Thank you for my sense of balance, so I can stand unassisted.

Thank you for these rubber sandals, so my feet can stay cleaner.

Thank you for mental clarity so I don’t forget why I’m in the shower.

Thank you for towels.

Thank you for the bathing suit dryer spinny thing.

Thank you for friendly women in this locker room.


And on and on and on.


Once you start, it’s kind of hard to stop.

Try it. Start right now.

Think of all the things immediate to this moment —aspects of your experience that, without them, you’d be much worse off,

or maybe even dead.


Start with your lungs, and the fact that you don’t have to even think about breathing.


Go from there.

I promise it will snap you out of a funk faster than anything else.


Blessings to everyone in the whole world — seen and unseen. Two-legged, four-legged, no-legged, many-legged. Furry, scaled, feathered, slimy, crusty. Living in every country, every continent, every body of water, every forest, every iceberg, every desert.


May everyone experience the blessing of this shift in awareness.

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