Morning Cup of Coffee: Saying, “No” to the Noise

Handcrafted by Sunset Hill Stoneware in Wisconsin. Given to me as a gift.

Handcrafted by Sunset Hill Stoneware in Wisconsin. Given to me as a gift.

Is there anyone out there who doesn’t know how much I love my coffee?  I started drinking it when I was a teen:  at that point with half a cup of cream and a couple of sugars.  No wonder I liked it, right?  When I worked as a 911 dispatcher on the midnight shift, we drank coffee by the pot – not the cup!  Over the years, I’ve cut back.  It’s now typically two a day with just a little bit of cream (or a hint of Bailey’s) and no sugar.  Now I love strong coffee.
 But….this post isn’t really about my love of coffee.  
I have a huge Starbucks icon (that’s the only kind I like) mug collection but, I don’t collect just generic cups.  Well, let me correct that, too. I didn’t collect anything but my icons.  Recently several friends (and even clients) have given me special cups that mean a great deal to me, so it does appear that I AM collecting cups.  
But…this post isn’t really about my collection of coffee cups.  
It’s about my first cup of coffee each day.  It’s about sharing that cup of coffee with you.  
For a very long time, I’ve gotten up in the morning and reserved the first 20-30 minutes just for me. That’s my quiet time – time to prepare and plan for the day. To set my intention.  Time to sit and actually enjoy my coffee. I will get up at 430 or 5 JUST to have this time instead of jumping out of bed and running around like a crazy (crazier?).
Each day, I want to talk to you as I drink my coffee; to share how I’m starting the day. Sometimes they’ll be short conversations. Sometimes a little longer. Sometimes a post I saw, a picture, or maybe something from a class I’m taking.  Sometimes a blog I wrote.  They won’t be perfect.  It is my first cup of coffee!!  You don’t have to drink coffee to be here, but I don’t know why you wouldn’t 🙂
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Today’s cup was given to me by one of my biggest customers, The US Forest Service. It was handmade by Sunset Hill Stoneware in Wisconsin.
Today’s musings were triggered when my friend Paul shared this link of the US Women’s gymnastics team
 
“Amazing” doesn’t begin to describe these ladies. Wow.
 
While phenomenal, I’m not just interested in their physical abilities though.  It’s the mindset required for building a champion that fascinates me. The dedication to meeting a goal they’ve set for themselves. The hours (and hours, and hours) that go into getting better at “this”, accomplishing “this”, becoming the best at “this” – no matter what. And the absolute determination to say, “no”, unapologetically, to the outside noises in order to say, “yes” to their passion.
How amazing would life be if WE did this?  If we trained to “gold medal in life”!!!
If we refused to accept the limits placed on us – by ourselves!!!!!!  If we refused to stay small just because it’s comfortable.  Although I would argue that it really isn’t comfortable at all – it’s just habit.  It’s routine.  We let change scare us even though we hate where we are.  For example, I stayed in the classroom over lunch, a few months ago.  One of the men in my class stayed too and we started chatting.  He told me how much he hated his job.  He hates his co-workers and his boss.  He hates his house.  He hates getting up in the morning.  He’s under so much stress that he feels it is “killing him”.  He, literally, feels like he is going to die because of these things.
I told him what anybody else would have.  “You need to do something about it.  You can’t live like that.  You need to change something.”
BUT that’s very easy to say.  The problem with all of the “rah rah – just do it” “think positively” “you got this” and “don’t let anything hold you back” campaigns is that they stop there.  They tell you to just change something……
How to hell does that even happen?
Change can be incredibly intimidating, daunting, and difficult.  We feel trapped.  We feel we have not choice.  We’re not living life – we’re at the mercy of it.  We hate it but we feel like there’s nothing we can do about it.
That’s not true, but I know the feeling very well.  Contrary to the campaigns, there IS something very real holding you back.
You.  Me.  Us.
We can’t just decide to be different tomorrow.  Just like these gymnasts didn’t wake up one morning and run into the Olympic arena.  They had to work their asses off for the privilege to even be there – to even be given an opportunity to try!!!!
We have to start where we are.  That’s not just a saying.  It’s a fact!  Every one of these ladies have progressed to where they are today – they didn’t start there.
But we have to be willing to start.
Listen, we ALL have responsibilities.  We all have things we must do.  But is driving ourselves to an early grave, being stressed every single day, and hating every moment of life really the way you want to live?
It doesn’t have to be that way.  I’ve changed my life.  I’m still doing it.  I’ve seen other people do it.  I’m helping some do it right now.  Are our lives “perfect”?  Hell, no.  But they are pretty damn amazing.
This is it.  No dress rehearsal.  No do over.
We can’t change everything in one day.  We can’t “magically” wake up tomorrow and have everything be exactly as we envision it in our dreams, but we can…….we absolutely, positively, CAN do one thing – take one step at a time – that will change our lives.
<3

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