In its simplest form, “romanticizing” your life is falling in love with how you live.
It’s common for many individuals to fall into a mundane routine, abandon their mental health, and forget about self-care, but going too long with these habits will increase one’s chances of feeling unhappy.
Take it from me. Since I was seven years old, I’ve suffered from persistent depression. For me, life wasn’t just a series of gray clouds here and there, it was a 24-hour neverending rainstorm. At some points, I felt as if my purpose lacked meaning.
It wasn’t until I entered my 20’s that I started feeling better about the way I carried myself. Having been in therapy for about two years now, my therapists have taught me essential skills needed to relieve some of the heavy clouds raining down on my parade: appreciation and mindfulness.
Let’s use my typical mornings as an example of how I incorporate appreciation and mindfulness.
One of the first things I do when I wake up is that I take a look around my room and out my window. To practice mindfulness, I study the current weather outside. When I look around my room, I take the time to appreciate all that I have and the fact that every single item in my room was handpicked by me. Thinking this way about how my room is super particular and is a reflection of me, makes me feel unique. It makes me love the space that I spend a lot of time in.
After doing a quick mindfulness exercise, I start my self-care morning routine. Usually, I don’t have much that I think about when brushing my teeth or washing my face, other than the fact that I do it every morning, despite the water being cold when it splashes onto my face!
The decision process for the outfit I will wear is simple. I need to feel like the outfit fits how I’m feeling and is appropriate for the weather. If I’m feeling energetic, I know that there’s a good chance that I’ll workout that day, so I go ahead and put on a cute matching workout set.
Now, this is an important part that should be in everyone’s morning routine: HAVE BREAKFAST!
I’m sure you’ve received the “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” lecture from your teachers in elementary school, and you may have never listened to that advice, but I’m here to tell you that they’re completely right.
Making yourself a lovely breakfast in the morning is the perfect opportunity for you to practice romanticizing your life.
When choosing what I want to eat for breakfast, I use the intuitive eating technique. This may sound odd, but when I go downstairs to my kitchen, I take my time to look at the possible breakfast options, and I wait for my brain and body to agree and make a decision. It’s also important to note that part of a good breakfast is making sure that it’ll be a meal that makes you feel good.
After I’ve made my decision on what I should have for breakfast, I take my time to make it! If I’m having a bagel for breakfast, I would usually pair it with coffee. It makes me feel well-put together like I’m some kind of work-from-home individual that lives in the heart of Brooklyn, New York.
It sounds crazy. It might even sound stupid, but it works. To live your life the way you want it to be seen is one of the best things to do for yourself.
Time for you to practice the two qualities needed to romanticize your life.
A way you can start loving life again is to think about what makes you happy, or what you think is important to you and start from there. If friends are important to you, practice appreciation by letting them know. You can text them a long paragraph with a bunch of emojis, but what’s even better is sending a token of appreciation through snail mail. It gives you the opportunity to deeply think about your friends, while also practicing mindfulness as you notice the words produced through the ink of your pen.
While you can’t easily change your routine, you can definitely change the way you think as you follow your daily schedule.