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Today is a Big Day

The StoWicks Conversations

by

Seth and Carolyn Wicks

Today's Key Points:

• Memento Mori
• Reticular Activating System
• Pick Today

Carolyn: Every single morning, you’re handed something extraordinary, a brand new opportunity to live. You get to wake up. You get to move your body. You get to learn something new, to show up for people you love, to make a small impact in the world around you. How lucky are we?

It’s easy to save our excitement for Fridays and weekends, trust me, I love them too. But if we zoom out for a second, Mondays deserve some love too. Because every Monday means you woke up again. You have a role to play. You have a job, a mission, a purpose that keeps the world moving. And with that, you have an opportunity to become the very best version of yourself, to be just a little better than you were the day before.

Every day is a big day when you remember that you get to live it.

Seth: I was over at my parents' house a few weeks ago and my mom asked me what my first thought was when I woke up in the morning. My answer caught her off guard: I could have not woken up, so getting to wake up is the best thing that could have possibly happened. Literally nothing else in the day can beat it.

I'm sure it sounds a bit dramatic, but when you stop and meditate on your mortality, something actually changes. We've talked about Memento Mori, and it's something we remind ourselves of daily. We will die one day, and it could be today. That one thought guides us for the rest of today, because Every Second Counts.

So yeah, if we wake up tomorrow, it will unequivocally be a big day.

Carolyn: Okay, Carolyn's science corner is back 🤓. To Seth's point, neuroscience backs this change. Your brain uses a built-in filter called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). It sifts through the flood of information you receive and highlights what you consciously focus on. When you begin your morning with gratitude, by saying “I get to” instead of “I have to”, you are essentially training your RAS to hone in on possibility, blessings, and potential. Over time, that filter rewires your attention toward more of the good in your life and away from perpetual complaint or scarcity. It’s biology! Gratitude literally changes the way you experience life. 🤯

Seth: It's easier than ever to stay under the covers for as long as possible. But is that what you were born to do? Were you born to live a comfortable life that brings you no meaning? No. You were born and are alive today for some purpose. I don't know what yours is, but one of mine is to write this newsletter and bring some positivity to people's lives.

Whatever it is that drives you, whatever it is that brings you joy and energy, pursue it today with relentless passion. Tomorrow is not guaranteed, and there is no time to waste. Make today matter. Make today great.

Carolyn: Sometimes we wait for the big moments and we forget that this is one of them.

Seth: Your odds of being alive are basically zero. This week, keep a gratitude list and make sure one of your bullet points is that you're grateful just to be you. You're one of a kind, and we're thankful you're here.

Both: Pick today. Because today is a big day.

See you next week,
Seth & Carolyn
​The StoWicks

Quote of the Week:

"When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive — to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love."

Marcus Aurelius

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