this blog originally appeared at thesagemama.com

It's been years since I've read Alice in Wonderland. I remember that when she ate or drank different potions, she either shrank or grew larger in the mysterious world she was exploring.

I've discovered the same thing happens to me and my day. I can either grow large and my day and my to-do list looks easy or I can grow small and my day and responsibilities look huge, like a giant looming over me. And my magic potions? My magical potions are my emotions.

This week was a great example of this for me. I was grumpy. My to-do list looked huge. It felt overwhelming and impossible to accomplish. Washing dishes felt like a chore, doing laundry felt like running a marathon. Practicing karate for five minutes felt like a burden and scheduling a dentist appointment felt like the final exams.

I used to think that because my list was so large, I felt grumpy. I've thought this for years. Actually, the opposite is true. When I'm grumpy, my list feels large.
When I'm happy, the exact same list feels easy. When I'm feeling bad, it affects how I see the world and everything becomes worse. And wonderfully enough, when I feel good, everything becomes better. We all know this from our past experiences. What we might not know is that we can choose how we feel regardless of the world around us.