Last night I had a terrible night's sleep!
It's really unlike me, because I'm great at sleep!

I was restless all night and then fully awake from 2am. 
My mind was so busy thinking about a whole range of random things. 
Things I have to get done.
Things I'd forgotten to do in the weekend.

Things I'm worried about.
And of course, as happens in the middle of the night, every small molehill felt like a mountain.
The more I lay there, the more my anxiety grew.

Then I had an idea.
I needed to write myself a love letter.

At 4.30 I got up, made a cup of tea, and sat down with my notebook.
 

A love letter is something I sometimes do when I feel in the grip of any kind of negative emotion. Or when my mind is going around in circles trying to solve problems that probably don't even exist!

A love letter is a form of gratitude practice.
But it feels softer and easier to do when gratitude feels hard.  

Rather than forcing yourself to think of things you feel grateful for when you're not in that vibe,

A love letter is like a gentle nudging of your mind and heart into a place where they can see and feel the good. 

It's like on a cloudy day, when you can't see the sun at all, a love letter creates some little gaps in the clouds, so the sun's rays start to peak through. A love letter reminds you that the sun is still there, it hasn't gone anywhere. 

A love letter is a list of things that you love. 
The way you love to feel.
The things you love to do.
People, pets, possessions ... absolutely anything goes. 

The great thing about a love letter is it can also list things you love that you're not experiencing right now. Your love letter reminds you of their presence in your life, and that you will experience them again. 

Your love letter doesn't need to make sense. 
A love letter is just a list of random things, in whatever order they come to mind.

I thought I'd share my 5am love letter as a way to inspire you to try this helpful exercise when you wake up with a case of Monday-itis, as I did this morning.

Here it is -

I love this quiet time for myself.
I love sipping on my hot cup of tea, I love how soothing it feels.
I loved snuggling with Louis the cat last night. 
I love how cuddly he is. 
I love that I can take a long slow breath and feel calmer.
I love that I only need to think about this minute, and then the next one, I love that I don't need to do everything all at once. 
I love that I don't need to solve anything today. 
I love that I can be easy on myself today. 
I love that I can still get some things done. 
I love that I can still feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.

I love that I can just tick off a few things. I love that it all helps.
I love that opportunities keep coming my way. I love that I have the confidence to take them on, and even if I don't, I love that I often do it anyway. I love that I find my confidence along the way. 
I love how courageous I am. 
I love that I keep getting braver and braver.
I love that I'm ok with not feeling 100 today.
I love that I can roll with it.
I love that I can keep planting good thoughts in my mind. 
I love that I can feel anxious and still have a good day. 
I love that I can look for good things and the more I look, the more I find. 
I love knowing that everything is always working out. 
I love that, even when things feel like they're going wrong, I know I'm learning.

I love looking back on challenges and seeing how I grew.

I love that when things felt like they were going wrong, they were actually going right. 
I love that I know I'll always be ok. 
I love knowing that, no matter what, I can choose my thoughts. 
I love knowing that I can always breathe.
I love practicing letting go. 
I love being able to relax. 
I love getting better and better at this. 
I love that I'm already starting to feel a little better. 
I love that I've got some feel good momentum going. 
I love that I can share this letter with others. I love that maybe they'll give it a try.

I love that maybe it'll help them too, like it's helped me.
I love that I can come back and read this letter today, as many times as I need. 
I love that there's so much to love about this day 💛

What I love most about writing a love letter is that moment when the shift in how I'm feeling starts to happen. There's a moment when I can feel a different momentum start to take over. It's a very cool feeling to be able to do that for yourself.

I hope you'll give it a go 🙌

Nadine xx