The hidden power of ritual
Recently, I have been assessing all the abundance and love in my life and realizing that I have so much abundance and love, and it comes in the form of so many wonderful things!! One of them is the power of rituals and how they transform my present moment.
One of my morning rituals that sometimes gets left undone due to poor planning, stumbling into a hectic day or just shear laziness: is making my bed.
Other priorities
It wasn’t ever a priority growing up, nor through my early adulthood. But in recent years, I have heard that making the bed in the morning is a habit of highly successful people. So I adopted it as a habit.
At first, it was just to take on a habit that had somehow been proven to some group of people that success follows you if you simply make your bed in the morning.
But my rebellious side began to revolt one day, and my bed went days without being made.
Then it was time to change the sheets.
I went through the process that I had skipped the days prior and when it was made, felt an amazing sense of accomplishment and pleasure.
And that feeling of pleasure was repeated later in the evening as I peeled open the coverings to slide into my cozy bed for a restful night of sleep.
I had unintentionally given myself a gift.
Giving your future self a gift
The gift of satisfaction and appreciation for the present moment and my amazingly comfortable bed.
It was easy to have gratitude to myself for the little bit of effort I had put forth, just for me, earlier that day.
It always feels amazing to me to climb into a made bed. That is why I now do it. To enjoy that moment of pleasure as my body folds into the bed as if the bed is beckoning me in for a long embrace.
It’s the little things. ?
More gifts to give your future self
Since my discovery of giving myself this gift daily, I began to seek out other ways to give to myself.
- Putting my meditation cushion and journal back each morning
- Putting my costumes back together when unpacking after a show
- Preparing my pasties by adding tape to them before I pack them to take to my shows
- Preparing my social media posts and weekly emails ahead of time
- Waking up early enough to meditate and make my bed
Those are just a few “rituals” turned gifts that make a world of difference in how my days and weeks play out.
Do you practice self love and give yourself gifts?? (After all, you deserve to receive gifts from yourself too!!) How can the hidden power of ritual improve your life?
I challenge you to take notice of your “rituals” and how they make you feel. Do you find comfort and satisfaction in them? Do they make your days just a little bit brighter?
Then, begin to add more “rituals” to enrich your life and your daily joy.
To living a joyful life!
XOXO!
Athena, aka Gazella
Amplify You Podcast
A podcast series created to inspire you to take up more space and shine in a world that has conditioned you to be small.