A few months ago I picked up a new organization habit called bullet journaling. It's an analog system for a digital age and the sky's the limit of what you can create with it.  I've been juggling the idea of whether or not to add a "mood tracker" page to my regular monthly pages. 

Our superstar listener Brandon saw a couple of the pictures of my October Bullet Journal spreads on Instagram a few weeks and wanted to know more about it. It's hard to explain exactly what it is in a nice, concise article but I can tell you that my entire life is wrapped up in single book with dotted grid pages. My monthly calendar, daily to-do list, project tracker for work, marathon training schedule, gratitude log, vision board for travel...all of those are in the horribly doodled pages of my bullet journal. The precise how-tos of bullet journaling are in a book by Ryder Carroll called The Bullet Journal MethodI highly recommend it, even if you don't end up pick up bullet journaling as a hobby. It gives you a TON of insight on organization, budgeting and work-life balance.

At the very end of the book, Carroll introduces you to the viral sensation that his organization system has become. Readers took his basic guidelines and adapted them to collections that serve their own lives. One of the more popular collections in the #BuJo community online is mood tracking. People track if they're feeling happy, sad, anxious, angry, etc in the most creative ways. Those doodles help people identify what steps they need to take toward better self care. I've thought about adding a mood tracker to my journal, but I've been blessed with more good days than bad so I haven't moved forward with it yet.

Today would've been one that I marked a bad day. I'm 19 days away from running the New York Marathon. I was lucky enough to be selected in the lottery for the race back in February and was really looking forward to it...and then life happened. Like many of you, 2019 has thrown surprises at me over and over again.  That's taken me away from the time I needed to dedicate to running 26.2 miles and I'm scared. That unique combination of surprises and being underprepared for a distance that I know from experience will cause my body a lot of pain hit me like a ton of bricks today...so I had a bad day.

How do YOU come back from a bad day?  For me it takes remembering three simple things:

There is a Lesson in Every Struggle

This morning during Michelle's Monday Motivation, I shared with you the quote "Beautiful girl, you were made to do hard things so believe in yourself." New York will be my seventh marathon. I'm not a stranger to the distance and this quote was a fantastic reminder that I've been here before. Not only did I survive, I thrived beyond my expectations. You've been there before. You've been told you can't. You've been told you won't...but you did. And you exceeded what people thought you were capable of. Do NOT forget that. Your struggles brought you to a bigger, greater understanding of your place in the universe.

It's Okay to Cry Sometimes

If you're a gal who enjoys lash extensions as much as I do, it's tough to not only admit that but act upon it because you don't want all your lashes to fall off. There are times where I get overwhelmed and there's really no other way to release those feeling than by having a good cry. I hate doing that because I grew-up in an environment that was very much a "get your helmet on and go fight" mentality and I fear that tears show that I'm not strong enough to handle the big picture stuff.  That's not the case at all. There have been studies that show that crying isn't a sign of weakness, but actually something that we need to do to process our emotions and bounce back. It can actually help heal your body, reduce stress and increase your immunity.

Don't Be Afraid to Ask For Help

I pride myself on being a problem solver and someone who will take as much work as I can off of other's plates even at the risk of my own well being and sleep pattern. If you do that too, you know there will eventually come a time where you actually can't do it on your own and you need to ask for help. Do it. It'll drive you crazy at first, but trust that the people who are willing to help are on your team. No great leader would have become what they are without the help and counsel of others.

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