Summer is waning. I’m sorry if I’m the one to break it to you but the days are getting shorter and the air has a soft bite to it in the morning now. At least here in the Northeastern USA. I’m not completely sad about this because I’m ready to reset my routines and create some new goals for myself. The summer of loafing for my pre-teen is nearly ending, the routines of the school days are calling and they are going to be busy. Seventh grade. New school. New activities. New friends to make. I hear him on the phone in the evenings with his friends from his previous school and I wonder if they will fall by the wayside as the months go on or if the foundation is there to carry some of them through into his future. It’s bittersweet. Leaving the old for the new.
Beginnings can happen any time but I really like the fresh start of a new school year. It’s when I ramp up my organization, filling in the family wall calendar with all the appointments and activities for the days and months ahead. I can reset my intention to meal plan and eat healthier as a family, sitting down together for more than one or two meals a week. I can set up new routines and reflect on my own goals and just maybe I will get around to that vision board. Sometimes I feel like I have too many ideas and plans and the result is nothing really gets done.
One new thing I’m starting on September 1st is The 6-Minute Diary by Dominik Spenst which claims to be “a book that will change your life”. This isn’t a journal per se (I’ve got more than enough of those on my bookshelf, in my night stand, under the bed…) and it is not simply a blank book to write your thoughts and dreams. The book has an introduction with background, overview and instructions for using it and you don’t even begin to write until page 70. The purpose of the diary is to overwrite the negative script our brain is predisposed to want to compose. Spenst calls it our pre-installed survival software that has been with us since the beginning of time to keep us safe and alive. Danger. Danger.
The 6-Minute Diary boils down to having two, three minute routines at the beginning and end of your day. In the morning you write down three things you are grateful for, how you’ll make the day great and a positive affirmation. As you go about your day, keep in mind the following for your evening writing: a good deed for the day, how to improve and three great things you experienced that day. This is the prescription for letting go of negative and pessimistic thoughts and ideas. While I don’t think I’m pessimistic person at heart, it wouldn’t hurt me to spend more time reflecting on gratitude and positive thoughts. I’ve got six minutes to spare.
Do you think of September as a time to begin again?
MC
I Am Writing 