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Creating a blissed out morning routine full of self-love and style rituals is totally my jam.

Want it to be yours too? Come play with me, here: http://bit.ly/mm-class

But, what happens when you wake up on the wrong side of your cozy bed with a not-so-sparkly curveball?

I’ll tell you EXACTLY what happens.

Cue: dramatic movie music.

It was a dark + stormy Monday night in Houston.

Three large storms had converged into one power packed pest over our town.

Within an hour our garage was completely flooded – rubbish bins floating, plastic storage containers bobbing up and down, and, before we knew it, there was water over the door trim of my almost brand-new Toyota RAV4 {gasp!}

The water rose so fast, there was nothing we could do. The driveway water was even deeper than the garage. And the street? Well that was just as messy.

We finally decided to go to bed because there was nothing we could do besides pretend our driveway was some kind of bizarre hot tub.

Even amongst the rumble, I still planned to awake Tuesday morning with my typical grounding meditation and herbal tea.

Except, Tuesday morning had other plans. At 6am, I was jolted out of bed by an emergency message screeching from my phone.

The horrendous sound gave me the heebie-jeebies while sending my anxiety and adrenaline levels rocketing through the roof.

Blissful wakeup? Not exactly.

My husband and I leaped out of bed to assess the damage in the light of day.

Our little community of 12 townhomes was littered with debris, rubbish, mud, waterlogged belongings and cars soaked in water… on the inside.

I immediately swung into operation ‘clean-up-crap.’

Cleaning up a mess like this comes pretty naturally to me. After all, I spent weeks cleaning up with fellow volunteers after the massive floods in Brisbane a few year back.

And by getting present (and getting my hands dirty) my anxiety quickly fell away.

Sure, I was worried about my poor drowned car:

  • Would it work properly (especially after the amount of water that was spat out of the exhaust when I started it)?
  • Would our insurance cover getting it re-upholstered?
  • Would it be riddled with mold and mildew in the hot and humid Houston weather?

But I quickly realized that stepping into the moment to clean up the mess was a beautiful morning routine. Even if it wasn’t my norm.

If felt so good to be out in the morning sun and breathing the fresh morning air.

I laughed with my neighbors at some of the stuff we found and made light of a bad situation.

And, turns out, washing away loads of mud and debris is super therapeutic! Nothing like a sparkling clean surface to make you smile.

I still moved my body, and likely had the best arm workout I’ve had in years.

Most importantly, we pulled together as a community. That filled my heart and soul with so much joy to know we were all there for one another, especially given that we were all in exactly the same boat.

After 5 hours of cleaning gross, filthy, stinky stuff, we were done. I felt energized, refreshed in a satisfyingly dirty way, and my soul was topped off with love + gratitude.

Next time you wake-up to one of life’s not-so-sparkly curveballs, take a deep breath and know that you’re supported where ever you are.

There’s something beautiful to be learned from just about every situation – whether you realize it now, in a few days, months or years.

Stay open to all the experiences life throws at you. They may just reshape your current morning routine and change your life for the better.

With love and gratitude,
Shelley Cohen

p.s. Do you need help sparkling up a disastrous morning routine? Join me and 9 gorgeous hostesses for MIRROR MIRROR, a free 5-day class where we’ll wash away any icky morning habits that ruin your day and welcome in loads of pleasure + fun. Sign up here: it’s easy like Sunday morning. Promise ;)