By Darlene Koury (@_happyisachoice)

This is me looking at myself in the mirror deciding what kind of day I'm going to have.  I have the power to do that, you know....to decide.  We all actually have that power.

I can decide if I'm going to let the "what if"' and the "how long" scenarios scare the crap out of me until I feel like crying.  I can choose to let my feelings of being overwhelmed, uncertain and disappointed swirl in my head, round and round, until I'm an exhausted mess. I can hold on to all the things that I've sadly lost during this pandemic....a loved one, a graduation, a special vacation, my classroom connections.  

I can let all this get the best of me.  And for a while, I did just that. I stayed in the pain. I had to honor it, process things my way.  It was necessary for me to just sit with my loss and really feel the sorrow.  I think that’s such an important step to healing for me. This is an incredibly stressful time, so allowing myself to thoroughly work through my feelings was super important.

However now, it's time to rework the narrative. Now, I will choose to accept what is. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. Oh no, no, no... it's definitely going to be a daily, intentional effort to manifest this. And it will be an ongoing process that’s never finished. I will give myself grace knowing there will always be good and bad days. One thing will stand strong though,  I've decided that I’m no longer going to stay stuck in trying to change things back to the way they were.  It's just not possible. So, instead I’ll conjure up the courage to bring back some peace.

This is my self-care for the season. Getting back to feeling capable, like I can make it through whatever comes my way.  It's time for a mind shift and it starts with telling myself every single day: I am resilient.  What you say to yourself matters. When your inner voice isn’t serving you, it’s your choice to change it. So be brave. Be courageous. Start the change because you’re worth it and because happy is a choice!