Conversation for the Week

Feel Good Now

This week’s thing to think about from Mark Manson’s “Your Next Breakthrough” is about ways to feel better about yourself. This is a very timely subject for me, as I just finished a class in which it was suggested that we journal daily about how to Feel Good Now. I do love a little synchronicity in my life. To me, it indicates that I must be on the right path — or, at the very least, this is something I need to pay close attention to.

Here are some things he suggests to think about on this topic and my thoughts. First, the only way to feel better about yourself is to do something. Basically, you can’t think your way into a better life, you have to live it.

Living alone and having faced times of depression, sometimes it is a struggle for me to “feel good now”. But. I am willing to try to see what I can do to change my world, one small step at a time.

So, what have I done recently that is worth feeling good about? First, I ask myself, daily “What did you do today to Feel Good Now?” Sometimes, it is just calling a friend to make sure she is is doing ok. Other times, it is a simple conversation at the grocery store. Or maybe it is noticing something special about another person.

I am very excited about some new material that I am starting to share with my clients I cannot wait to see how this will help them in their transformational journey. I also had several meetings this week in my interfaith network where I held space for others to share their experiences.

I also, finally, started to make progress on setting up my office. This task has seemed daunting for quite some time, so it has been easy for me to try to ignore. Yet, how that I made a big move on this project, it is bringing me much joy — and it is inspiring my work to greater levels.

Taking action, even small steps, helps me to see my world from a new perspective and it connects me to others. It can be as simple as a kind gesture to a stranger you meet in the course of your day. It could be doing something that you have been putting off — like finally setting up my office in a room that has been used for storage of things from the past. One of my clients even noticed the improvement during our weekly Zoom call. And, even though this is still a work in progress, this action definitely made me Feel Good Now.

And yes, it means that I will do a few things that scare me — like sending my book’s first draft to a few publishers.

So now, I ask you, what small — or large — action steps will you take to Feel Good Now?