"One Day At A Time" is maybe the most quoted expression in sobriety and recovery moments. When we stop to think of it, it is so powerful! But, like any cliche, it can become tired and lose its effect. Nick The Poet shares another way of looking at it that may be helpful to you: Just Solve Today!
Nick Hanson: Today we are going to talk about a concept called one day at a time. He gives three concrete examples of what you can do to just solve today. He says prayer and meditation in the morning, acts of kindness and exercise can all help.
Hey, how's it going? Nick Hanson here from Cadre. How are you? Today we are going to talk about a concept called one day at a time. But I want to use a different term for it. Just solve today. A few years ago I was walking by a coffee shop and it was connected to a print shop and they had a bunch of prints that said just solve today. And I thought, what an interesting way of looking at this one day at a time concept because I've coming from a recovery and a twelve step background, one step at a time is a very common idiom and I like it, I dig it.
And some of the times it really hits me, I'm like, oh my God, one day at a time. You just have to go one day at a time. And so I want to give you just, you know, about three concrete examples of what you can do to just solve today. One day at a time. And so here is one of them, and that is prayer and meditation in the morning. Or maybe it's just meditation, or maybe it's just prayer. Whatever it is, if you can take that time in the morning, maybe it's writing, maybe it's journaling. Taking time to connect with yourself in your higher power, if you believe in higher powers or have one, whatever it is, before we jump into the stream of the day, before we jump into the social media feed, to take that little bit of time in the morning could make such a huge difference.
And then a lot of times on a Saturday, I will try to not even turn my phone on until noon and have a little bit longer of a break to do some writing in the morning, maybe a walk, maybe some yoga. Like anything I could do to connect with myself just naturally helps me solve that day in a much better way. So another thing that you can do are acts of kindness. And I know when I first started going into a twelve step program, I had a friend who recommended do three anonymous acts of kindness today. You know, and it could be the classic example of opening the door for an old lady.
Not that that's anonymous, because, you know, they would know that you were opening it for them. But maybe it's shoveling a sidewalk of a neighbor, maybe it's picking up, you know, something that someone dropped. Whatever it is. Like if we're on the lookout for those, it makes the day more exciting, it opens up more possibilities. And to kind of add to that this thing that I've talked about before of what can I give? If I'm thinking most of the day about what can I give in this situation? What can I give in this work situation?
What can I give at this meeting? What can I give in this relationship? What can I give when I walk into a room? What can I give in this chair that I'm doing right now? I feel so much better than what can I take? And we do need to take as well and receive, because it can be tough to receive gifts, blessing, compliments, more money, more opportunities. So if we can somehow get that giving flow and the receiving flow, that's going to help solve the day. And finally, exercise, for me, helps solve the day.
I love to go for walks or run or do yoga or do peloton. Anything for that exercise, you know, is really going to help me solve today. So those are a few concrete examples. And I think connection, you know, is a big part of solving today. If I'm staying connected, right, a lot of times my day is just going to flow, you know, along really smoothly, really wonderfully. And it may be going terribly, but because I'm connected, I'm able to, you know, as some will say, kind of ride the waves, you know, or the waves aren't going to stop, but I learned how to surf on them.
So those are a few concrete tips for you. I hope you enjoyed them, and I hope you're having an awesome day, and we'll catch you on the flip side. Have a good one, guys. Bye.
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