Hello, my name is Jade Zaroff, and I’m an actress, filmmaker, and changemaker in New York City. I was on the first season of the Calm Collection series, and I’m back for season 2, and I’m so grateful to be here with you virtually.
So, today we’re going to be talking about having a bad day. We all have bad days, myself included. So, what do we do? So, for example, yesterday, I woke up, and I checked my phone, and I went straight to my email inbox, waiting for a very specific email that I was really excited the night before to receive and I didn’t get, and my expectations were high, and in comparison to not getting it, my mind went crazy. It started, you know, critiquing me, and coming with all of the reasons why the email wasn’t there, and started becoming pretty mean, and then from that place of just being you know, completely blocked off and antsy and anxiety driven I stubbed my toe. And now my body is in literal pain, and I am just going, going and going, and from that place, just the circumstances around me had so much control over how I was reacting to those circumstances, even though they may have nothing to do with me or anything I could’ve done to prevent them.
So then, I challenge myself to take the first step towards mindfulness and I challenge you to do the same which is to, take a step back. Every time something happens, whether it be stubbing your toe, or not receiving the email, or something bigger, or something smaller, and just observing what’s going on, all of those feelings thoughts and sensations that you feel like you have no control over, just observing them with no judgement – with a non-judgmental mind. Because I question if the person in your mind was a real person and they were that mean to you, that you know, just harsh and judgmental, would you be friends with that person? I don’t know if I would. You know, I’m a pretty easy going person, but that person in my mind sometimes is a little bit too much.
So, I just invite you to be your own best friend, especially in those moments that you feel like there is no way in which you can do that because you can approach any situation with compassion, and love, and kindness and gratitude. So, be your own best friend – today and every day. Thank you.