
Opening the shower door is my trigger. That’s when I stop thinking and only act. In most of the things we do, there’s a moment for reflection and a moment for action. When the decision is taken and the steps are clear, proper action must follow without any further interference. I find it very valuable to train that muscle every morning. At the moment I open the shower door, I know that a cold shower is the only possible outcome and that I need to accept it and be grateful for that moment. In order to do that, the best way is to truthfully embrace the cold. This is not just because it sounds nicer, it actually has a very concrete effect because the subconscious mind regulates bodily sensations according to expectations. If you let your self-talk taking over once the cold shower is started but you’ve not yet entered it, odds are the water will feel much colder and aggressive. If on the contrary, you embrace the moment and are eager for the experience, the cold will be much more acceptable.
Gratitude and awareness are personal endeavours. I think their fundamental nature changes the moment you tell other people that you’re working on these behaviors. After that you’ve told someone about it, are you sure you’re still doing it for yourself? Or are you then practicing only to comply with an image of yourself that you want to project? Or maybe you see some advantages to impressing others? While it might not be the intent at the mome…
Second, I was feeling entrapped in a very comfortable low-risk life and needed to both awake in me some conscious gratitude and make sure I remain aware and alert that everything can change quickly and for the worse. It always pays off to be ready for when the wind changes. There should be as little surprise and chaos as possible when one’s life worsens. On top of that, staying aware of one’s relatively good situation helps remaining humbler about it.