It never fails…

…It was 6am on a Sunday morning, and the house was quiet…

Everyone else was asleep, and I was gearing up for a busy day ahead. I woke up feeling rested and thought ‘this is a perfect time for me to get my Yoga in’…

…I tiptoed down the stairs to the kitchen and loaded up my French Press…..into it I tossed some freshly ground Organic Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee, with a splash of cinnamon…just how I like it :)….

I poured in my boiling water & set it aside to brew…I was going to treat myself to an hour of yoga on the backyard patio…

I turned to grab something on the counter and…

CRASH!!… my French Press toppled over onto the kitchen floor and disaster hit. Hot liquid and coffee grinds splash everywhere….

..alllll over the stove, across the cabinets, onto the kitchen stools and even on the side walls of the island…

It took me an hour to clean up the mess…

…At first, I was completely annoyed… I started grumbling to myself and wiping off the counter. I was just TOO THROUGH that this coffee spill had messed up my plans for the morning.

But then I got it.. It was like a light bulb went off in my head…

Here’s a perfect opportunity to change how I respond to stress…

As I continued cleaning -methodically pulling out the racks from the stove, vacuuming up the coffee that spilled inside it, wiping down the counter tops…..slowly, I began to think about all of the times when I’ve let myself get derailed in life…

How many times have I been on a healthy journey, or in a positive space and then ‘something’ happens, and I allow myself to get thrown off the wagon?

I haven’t always been healthy…

In fact, I’ve been overweight (100+lbs) for most of my life…I grew up in an unstable household, and I thought that having a somewhat chaotic life would always be normal for me.

That chaos spilled over into everything in my life- in my binge eating, my disorganized schedule, my lack of self-care, etc.

It wasn’t until I realized that I could choose how I wanted to show up in every area of my life, that things began to change for me and I turned my health around…

For example:

• Instead of letting this coffee spill ruin my day, I could focus on being grateful for being alive, awake, & for my good night’s sleep.

• Instead of dreading having to clean the kitchen unexpectedly, I could be grateful for my body and for being able to move and use the cleaning as a warm-up for my yoga practice.

With that renewed perspective in mind, I set another pot to brewin’ (miraculously, it hadn’t broken)…finished cleaning up the kitchen, and headed out to do my yoga.

I ended up having time for only a 30-minute session, instead of an hour.

But the gratitude I felt for my positive change in mindset? Stayed with me throughout the rest of the day. :)

How will YOU choose to show up for yourself the next time life throws you a curveball? Share your thoughts below so that we can all continue to grow and support each other!

Thanks for stopping by. See you next time…

-Coach Raj