Know where you are going, and Act As If

Scott, Sara and me in the midst of a terrific day.

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It's back-to-work Monday after a beautiful, fun, family-filled holiday. By the end of yesterday evening, my friend (and third cousin once removed!) Sara and I were commiserating about our lack of enthusiasm for the coming work week. Later in the evening, My younger son Scott was also feeling sad and though the boys have one extra day off before school starts, there was a general feeling of let down and blah about the place. 

Scott tends to have fears about things, so while we were on our evening walk with the dog in our sedate and picturesque suburban neighborhood, I gave him some of my sage advice, taken from a Xena episode (and those people borrowed heavily from MANY sources): We eventually become what we pretend to be. It's also the inscription on the plaque from my martial arts instructors and pals when I got my black belt in Tae Kwon Do in 1997. I suggested to Scott that when he feels frightened that he pretend he's really the bravest boy around and that he can handle anything. By the end of the walk we both had conquered the fear of barking dogs and on-coming vehicles and hastily-approaching pedestrians and were laughing and comparing our superhero costumes, blatantly disregarding Edna Mode's "No Capes" advice. Even Bugsy the schnauzer had one. It helped and we were both feeling a little better.

This morning while out on my run I remembered that the 27th anniversary of my coming out of the closet is this week. I can so vividly remember how scared and freaked out I was. I didn't have a picture in my head of what a happy gay person looked like, so in the vaccuum of it, I conjured all kinds of unpleasant outcomes for myself. If I had known then that my life now would be as healthy and happy as it is and that I would have a wonderful spouse and kids, I wouldn't have been worried at all.

Finally, I reminded myself of all of the gifts in my life: An Abundance of Love, Family, Health, Purpose. What's to feel blue about?

I'm putting all these things into my strategy for finding the joy in this Monday:

    1) Come from a place of gratitude and accept the contribution and learning from my current situation
    2) Remember where I want to be and imagine how it will feel when I make it my reality
    3) Act as if I've already reached it and enjoy the experience

I hope you had a great weekend too, and that your week ahead is bright.