My Journey to becoming a better me

I recently decided to start this journey towards becoming a better me. I have realized throughout the last year a lot of my insecurities and flaws. I've gone down a spiral of depression, negative thought processes, and not wanting to feel this way but not having enough energy to fix it. The hardest part was that the person I was becoming was not only hurting myself, but it was hurting the people around me. 

Today is DAY ONE of my new journey & I thought I'd share with you some of the steps I'm taking and I invite you to join me on this journey, and become a better you!

I'm not a morning person, but knowing that I'm waking up to spend time to myself and start my day with a positive mindset really helps me wake up. So that's the first step-

  WAKE UP EARLY.

At least 30 minutes to an hour earlier than you usually do. I also changed my alarm to wake up to a positive song, right now it's "Just a Cloud Away" by Pharrell Williams. The first part of the lyrics start like this

 This rainy day is temporary the contrast is why we got 'em cause sun shining through, is just a cloud away...

It helps me wake up a lot more than any of the alarm sounds an iPhone gives you options for.

Step two- choose your drink. Whatever it is that gets you going, maybe it's fresh squeezed juice, a cup of tea, or a shake. My choice is COFFEE. I have a cup every morning at work, so instead of dragging myself to work & finally waking up after I drink my coffee (two hours into work), I come to work already energized and ready to start the day.

Choose your book(s). Do you have a book that is full of daily affirmations & positive quotes? If not, I suggest one! My best friend sent me this book called "Jesus Calling"

 (get it on Amazon here)

 each day is a scripture from the Bible and a daily prayer to start your day.

Read one page every morning.

Another book I also recommend is "The Love Dare" 

(get it on Amazon here).

 This book is about renewing, repairing, or helping maintain your marriage, it's a 40 day challenge and focuses on these things;

Attention, Acceptance, Affirmation, Affection, Allowing, Apology, Abiding.

 If you haven't heard of this book- watch the movie "Fireproof." You can also take the marriage evaluation to see what areas you can improve in at www.lovedaretest.com

I started reading it last night & wanted to share a few of my favorite parts that I wrote down just from the introduction. 

"Marriage shows us our need to grow & deal with our own issues & self-centerdness through the help of our lifelong partner"

"The most important thing to do in your marriage is to LOVE"

"Don't follow your heart, lead it. If you are not leading your own heart, someone or something else is."

"Love is a decision, not just a feeling"

"You have the responsibility to protect & guide your heart."

Whether you know Christ's love for you, or you are trying to gain a relationship with God read ROMANS 8 every-single-day. I was given a 7 day challenge, but I think I'll just include it in my journey & read it every-day, it takes about five minutes or less.

Find a positive quote/ affirmation & read it to yourself until you either memorize it, or believe it. Maybe you have a Pinterest board full of them, or you print them off and you created a vision board or a board of postive affirmations. If not, there's a million on this board, go follow it!

Self talk, it's uncomfortable at first & then after awhile you'll end up doing it without even a reminder. What's self talk? Well, there's a couple different ways to do this- you can write down a lot of positive things about yourself, or things you want to accomplish and read them over & over. OR before you leave every morning, you can look yourself in the mirror and say "I love myself, for who I am, and for who God created me to be. I am not my past, today is a new day & it's the beginning to becoming a new me." You guys, I know it's weird...but it helps. I promise.

Invite god into your day by saying a prayer, whether it's before you leave the house or on your way to work. God wants to hear you, and he needs you to give him the invitation into your day and into your life. He is waiting to help you, he is waiting to shower you with spiritual gifts & his love, but you have to ASK. In that prayer, pray for your spouse, pray for your marriage, pray for someone who needs comfort & peace, and make sure you always thank him for one big thing (like the fact that you have a job & can support your family) & one small thing (like how beautiful the sunrise was this morning).

Track your mood, if it starts to get negative remind yourself that YOU control how YOU feel.

Be in control of you, your emotions, your self-esteem & be your own motivator.

Track your happiness; What made you smile? What made you laugh? What made you feel joy?

Cut the CRAP. Cut out fast food, cut out soda (or at least limit your intake), cut out the greasy food that does nothing for you, cut out the junk food that gives your body no nutrients. Cut-it-out.

Last but not least, get energized!  Get out and experience this beautiful weather while we still have it, or go for a run if you're into that cardio stuff. Do something for your body! Take care of your body & it will take care of you.

So can I do it? If I put my mind to it and believe it- I can. It's only day one but I'm already starting to feel better.

Have you gone through a time in your life where you've had to focus on finding yourself? What helped you the most? Any books you'd recommend, or routines you tried?

I'd love to hear them, comment your success stories below.