BY AYESHA BİLAL (PSYC/III)
ayesha@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
There is a strong sense of tranquility that comes with the simple pleasures of life we often take for granted. It fills you up momentarily and, if acknowledged frequently enough, instills in you a peaceful energy that can regulate your entire day in a positive way. So trust me when I tell you that once I decided to take the advice of somebody who recommended a simple yet very authentic life hack for giving a good start to the day, I felt transformed. I am a firm believer in the idea that your outlook and attitude strongly determine how you perceive events around you and the experiences you have throughout the day, and that a good start paints the rest of the day a similar hue. There are many times I wake up in a terrible mood for no particular reason that I can name, but it affects my entire day negatively, even if it’s just a regular eventless day. On the other hand, there are times I wake up in good spirits and am able to shrug off things that would normally upset me. I am sure most of us can relate to this on a daily basis and would agree that our emotions and frame of mind regulate our experience of everyday life.
So what is this simple, much-overlooked life hack that I mentioned? It’s something you probably did every morning throughout your childhood and adolescent years before you headed off to school. Yes, you guessed it; it’s breakfast. The first meal of the day, and the most important one. And I don’t mean just grabbing a sandwich and a cup of coffee as you head to class; I mean properly sitting down and appreciating the serenity and calmness that come with patiently satiating yourself. Your mother was right to force you to skip those extra 10 minutes of sleep sometimes and have something to make your stomach happy. Mine always said that if your stomach is happy, your soul is happy. And she was right, but what I’m sure most people, despite agreeing with the statement, would have an issue with is actually waking up early enough to give themselves time to get dressed for class and have a sit-down meal. It’s hard enough to do the former, and when you add to that skipping those extra precious minutes of sleep, it already sounds like a big no-no to everyone. Except the fact of the matter that I must confront you with, dear friends, is that those few extra minutes of sleep are not worth much; they at most momentarily extend your futile longing to remain in the comfort of your bed. Eventually, you will need to shrug those covers off and get yourself to start the day, still feeling dazed and groggy.
So what magic power does breakfast bring to the table (pun totally intended) that remedies that feeling of mental tiredness we are all too familiar with? I won’t talk much about the health benefits and physiological advantages that come with having a hearty breakfast; we can all look those up on the Internet and have probably been hearing about them our whole lives anyway. Instead, I want to give a personal perspective on this seemingly basic task. It is not so much about the act of eating breakfast in itself, but rather about the experience that comes with it, as mundane as one might think it. Whether it’s by yourself or, better yet, with someone you’d like to share that time of day with, it’s a sensation of genuine inner serenity accompanied by a calming appreciation of the world around you and the day ahead of you. For me personally, there are a few other experiences—like cozying up with a mug of hot chocolate when it’s pouring rain outside and listening to the patter of the drops; hiking up a mountain or hill and being able to see an entire city or town bustling beneath you; sitting by the ocean on a peaceful day hearing the waves crash—that compare. These sorts of things may sound very hackneyed in the telling, but in experiencing them we are all alike with respect to the vibes we get and give. And starting your day off in the early morning, giving your mind time to awaken in a relaxed and peaceful context, puts you in a very blissful state that persists throughout the day. A good meal to satiate your stomach, good company to comfort your mind and the harmony of morning are a timeless combination, and as I stated above, it is my firm belief that how you start your day determines your state of mind throughout the day. That is not to say nothing bad will happen on a given day; but how you react to it and how your perceive your troubles are contingent on where you are psychologically, and if you’re in a good place then it will take a lot to faze you. So give it a shot and see for yourself—tomorrow, get up half an hour earlier to make yourself some pancakes with strawberry jam and honey and see how you feel the rest of the day.