How to turn your week around

Oh, Monday. 

That day of songs and stories, wherein we whine and complain about the return to work and the way we just cannot wait for the weekend.

Monday can be hard. Last Monday, I went back to work after a glorious week  visiting my aunt in Florida. I came home to a forecast of snow and full work week. It was rough, and I let it get the better of me. I was not my best self last week. I was more like something that might live under a fairytale bridge and jump out at passing goats. Trip trap, trip trap, trip trap....

This week, I am determined to have a good week. It's a busy one, with family stuff and holiday prep, chime choir rehearsal and baseball practice, client meetings and workshop planning... How can I turn around the week?

First, as I teach in my fairytale work, is to look at where I see myself in the story. When I am in the throes of a hard week, feeling down on myself and gorging on as much refined sugar as I can find, I am inevitably seeing myself in the forest. I am at the point of the story when the heroine is utterly lost. But, as Theodora Goss reminds us, the heroine doesn't die in the forest. 
​The next step is to reframe.  What if I'm not in the forest at all?

What if I'm at the start of an adventure, and this is the call?

Then, it's time to gather my magical helpers and tools. Fairytale folk get all kinds of magical stuff to help them on the way, plus mysterious and sometimes dangerous helpers (Baba Yaga, anyone?) who direct them onto the right path. My helpful people might look different, and my magical tools certainly do. A cup of tea. 20 minutes to myself, a favorite book, a planner, some chocolate...

Finally, I have to take action. The heroine doesn't complete her quest by sitting sadly by the well, staring in after the spindle she's dropped. The key is to do SOMETHING. Get up and move. 

Oh, and forgive myself, for being snappish and exhausted and sad, because while these are symptoms of imbalance, not actual faults, they are things I beat myself up over. We could call this, "Silence the Sirens," and stuff our ears with imaginary beeswax against the siren call of self-loathing.

So, in short, to turn your week around (even if it's Monday):

1. Figure out where you are in the story.
2. Decide you are actually setting off on your adventure.
3. Gather your tools and helpers.
4. Start moving. Literally or figuratively.
5. Silence the sirens.
6. Repeat.
7. Repeat.
8. Repeat.

Let me know how it goes for you!