I am not a #morning_person. I will NEVER be a morning person. I'm not 100% sure I even like morning people. Just kidding. (Sorta.)
Prior to having children, eight-plus hours of sleep was not only a priority but also a need. I remember those delicious Saturday mid-mornings when I sloowwwly woke up. I recall puttering around the house fondly. #Puttering, now there's a delightful old word for a phlegmatic like me.
But no more! I have kids. Both early risers and full of energy, bolting into the day. Bolting is not, let's say, in my vocabulary. It wasn't in my vocabulary as a child and it certainly isn't now that I'm over 40 and going on my fourth year of sleep deprivation. Ask my Kindergarten teacher: moseying has always been more my style.
And I don't drink #coffee, so I don't get that helpful caffeine-addict-jolt some of you get. Hate the stuff.
But I have kids...and now they ARE my jolt. I realized with my first - my son - that I had two options:
Greet him grumpy and groggy (which is what I felt)
Greet him with joy and delight (which I felt after the grumpiness wore off)
Grace chooses to demonstrate love and all it's siblings regardless of the circumstance or feelings. So, I chose the latter. I started by singing and dancing a routine to the "Good Morning" song when he was only weeks old. I did this every single morning to train my mind to feel the happiness of being with him.
Now that he's too old for song and dance routines, we still greet each other with "Good morning! I missed you while you were sleeping!" and snuggles. (My 19-month is all about the #nursing first thing.) And, even though I'll never be a morning person, ever, my mind is trained to greet with love and joy.
In business, this applies to everything from how we approach the ever-growing "To Do List", how we handle clients (particularly the EGR ones), to how we greet our team.
Gracefull living requires training.