Some days you wake up and your body feels heavy before you even get up. Nothing in particular has happened. Everything just feels a little harder than it should.
On those days I do not believe in big plans. I believe in small rituals: things so small that you cannot fail at them.
Why small things help
A ritual is not a duty. It is a mark you place on your day that says "I am here, I am looking after myself". When the mind is foggy, repetition calms it, because it does not have to decide anything.
A few ideas I have tried
- A glass of water as soon as you wake up, before you look at your phone.
- Open the window for a minute, even if it is cold. Listen to what is out there.
- Make your drink slowly, as if it were the only thing you had to do.
- Make the bed. Not perfectly. Just make it.
- In the evening, write down one thing that happened today, however small.
Care does not have to be impressive to count.
If today even these feel impossible
That is all right. Pick one. If even that will not happen, sit for a while and breathe slowly. A day is not judged by how much you did, but by the fact that you got through it.
And if the heavy days start coming one after another, talk to someone. In Greece, 10306 has people ready to listen, every day, around the clock.