As someone who frequently forgets the big picture, all the positive, and small good things that are happening, you can say I get trapped in thinking about everything thats wrong. And sure, who doesn’t think like that from time to time. It’s only human to want to make things better and get stuck. It’s remembering the good, finding the beauty, and choosing to change your mindset that is a choice that you have to make.

The past week I felt like I was in a constant negative or bleh mindset. Some call that your ‘flop era’, ‘glass half empty’, or even ‘Oscar the grouch life style’. You can even think about it as standing too close to a painting; only seeing the dots or mixes of color and being so confused or frustrated that you don’t understand what is going on, or the point of it all.

Its so common and also healthy to have these lapses in judgments from time to time, because thats when you have to choose to become better, choose to take a step back or even choose to let things happen and see what comes of it.

I am not good at doing this, but I am actively trying to get better. I am not here to tell you the best 5 things to get yourself out of the mud or how to change your glass half empty POV. I am, however, going to tell you that everything you do is a drop in the ocean.

What that means

I am an extremely visual person. Always thinking in my head in pictures and playing out scenes or ideas in my minds eye. In third grade, we call that making a movie in our minds, but to me it’s my everyday life. When I say everything is a drop in the ocean, I mean two things.

First, everything you do is added into your own ocean. Whether it’s a small drop or a big wave, the things we do, what we spend our time on, or how we speak is a reflection of our own ocean. I personally find this comforting because I know that even when I make mistakes, one drop will not change my entire ocean. I can learn, reflect, and try again.

Second, every drop creates ripples. Like any body of water, when you drop something into it, ripples will form from that spot. What we do, say, or spend our time doing ripples out into our ocean. Because of these ripples, how we act, think and speak ripple into other aspects of our lives; all of the water in the ocean mixes together.

My Ocean

I felt like documenting, and sharing the drops I’m choosing to focus on in my ocean, and how they ripple out in my life. These are small drops that bring just a little extra love or peace into my messy ocean; what I incorporate into my everyday to remember to take a step back and look at my entire painting.

Movement is huge. It’s trendy to get 10k steps a day, have a pilates membership, or lift 5x a week. If that works for you, thats awesome! To me, yoga and walking bring me my fulfillment. Moving even just 5 minutes a day, intentionally, creates the ripples into other aspects of my life. Every week, I purposefully plan 5 days of workouts that are either of these. Yoga and walking bring me peace, help me grow my body, and allow me to feel those positive ripples throughout the rest of my day.

Next is reading! I was never a big reader growing up. Since COVID, I have become a Goodreads enthusiast tracking all of my books. I try to read in the morning before I leave for work, when I get home, and right before bed. Do I do all three of these everyday, absolutely not. But, I do make sure to do at least one of these a day, 100%. Not only am I off my phone and social media, but I am intentionally growing my brain and finding joy in something for just myself. I will say, ending the day reading a good book in my bed is the BEST feeling ever.

Noticing something in nature is another for me. Whether that means I’m taking a picture of the sunrise or sunset, noticing how loud the geese are on the pond, or taking 5 minutes outside, I try and recognize something outside of my head and self.

Last, one small thing a week. Each week, I try to make sure I do something new I didn’t do the other days. This could be super small like actually making a coffee to have at school, trying a new restaurant or coffee shop, seeing friends, or texting/calling someone I haven’t talked to in a while. These small things keep me from having the same routine week after week that make looking back all feel like the same thing over and over again.

My drops are small, but the ripples cascade throughout my ocean. By no means is my ocean the prettiest, calmest, or even cleanest. However, my ocean is the only ocean I get. I have to remember to keep my ocean one I want to be in, and maybe you do too 😉