Today I slept extremely late. Having a day free from work and obligations is a beautiful thing and I usually relish it.  But today, instead of enjoying the time off, I decided to make a big “to-do” list to keep unsettlingly at the forefront of my mind, while feeling completely unmotivated to accomplish any of my tasks.  I kept wishing I had the motivation to get things done while I actually had the spare time.  At the same time I felt nervous knowing that if I didn’t complete my “to-do” list today, I would be in a panic later on when I would be busier.

Does this sound at all familiar? Have you ever woken up in a funk?  Have you ever wished you could just feel better or feel more motivated?

This morning, in my day-off funk, I decided the least I could do was watch some videos on YouTube in the hopes that something inspirational would pop up.  If you’ve ever watched an Eckhart Tolle video, and if you read this blog regularly you most certainly have, you will know that each video starts with the sound of a bell, a high-pitched “ping,” which is coincidentally now the iPhone alert for a text message.

The second I heard the “ping” I realized what I had been doing all morning.  I was hoping that at some point the feeling of motivation would overtake me, and I’d get up and take action.  I was waiting for this feeling to happen.  But feelings don’t just fly through the ether and enter in through your ears.  They are created and experienced from within your very self.

All morning I was waiting for an emotion to happen to me, when the only way to feel that emotion was to create it myself.  Waiting to feel motivated is a trick.  It won’t happen.  You have to make the decision to invite that feeling forth within yourself.  The good news is that this is not as big of a task as it may seem.

Feeling the way you want to feel only takes one small step in this one moment you are experiencing.  That small step may be washing your face and brushing your hair, or going to a cafe to get some tea or coffee, or searching YouTube for an inspirational video.

With that being said, I now relinquish my big “to-do” list, and am finding my motivation right here with this one task of typing words on a keyboard.  The next step will take care of itself; the next task will happen in the moment that it happens.  Until then, I will work on creating the way I want to feel in each small act.

Understanding that emotions are created within, and choosing which emotions you want to feel, are the first steps to getting out of a funk.  I invite you to make that choice with me.  What inner feeling do you want to cultivate today?