I’ve noticed a lot people putting periods down in their lives right now.

“This is hard.”

“I can’t.”

“My kids aren’t getting what they need.”

“I’m stressed and overwhelmed.”

“I’m just going to power through it.”

Do any of these sound familiar? Many people have these thoughts in today’s challenging environment AND the critical thing I want y’all to know is that these thoughts don’t have to be finite. 

The periods that are put on the end of sentences signify that the sentence is over. But, here’s the deal y’all, your thoughts don’t have to be your ending.  The thoughts that many of us are thinking right now are negative, detrimental, and do not push us forward.  While these thoughts may creep into our lives from time to time, they don’t have to be our ending. 

So how do you change these “periods” that you are putting all over your life? Well, I’m so glad you asked!  The answer is in my top secret playbook and I’m sharing it with you today, right here right now. Instead of putting a period on your thoughts, be the comma! Say what?!  Yes, be the comma!

You see, the comma is the place that tells us to pause in a sentence.  It allows us to take a breath and alter our thought pattern.  To be successful and stay motivated during these incredibly challenging times, be the comma.  The next time you have a self-defeating thought instead of putting a period after it, put a comma and then add something positive. 

A few examples:

A person with a period thought says:  “This is never going to end.” A person with a comma thought says:  “This is never going to end, but it will get better and I am going to work incredibly hard so that I come out on top when it does.”

 A person with a period thought says: “My kids are getting too much screen time.” A person with a comma thought says:  “My kids are getting too much screen time and, it is temporary.  In the meantime, I will come up with 1 hour of non screen time activities to do with my kids each week.”

A person with a period thought says:  “I don’t have time for self-care in the middle of the pandemic.” A person with a comma thought says:  “I don’t have time for self-care in the middle of the pandemic, but I know that I have to find the time because I will be a better spouse, parent, employee, leader, and friend if I do.  I will schedule in three 20 minute walks per week and do 10 minutes of push-ups, squats, and jumping jacks for a quick energy boost 5 times per week.”

Do you see how that comma changes things?  It’s time to stop ending your life with negative thoughts and start putting in those commas and continuing to move forward.  Don’t let this challenging time be your ending.  Instead, let this time be a period of pause and reflection where you reconfigure your life and turn it into something more beautiful than ever before.

This is our time to press on with unrelenting joy because not only will it inspire you, it will inspire the world.   In the words of the 90s band Semisonic, “every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end.”

Cheers to continuing to make new beginnings in this new world we live in.  I hope y’all will join me in being the comma and let’s move forward and create the best memories and beginnings this world has ever seen.