Your alarm sounds in the early morning hours and you rouse from your slumber to turn it off.

That’s your first action of the day—to make the incessant beeping stop.

But what’s your next move?

Rolling back over to for a little extra rest?

Telling yourself, “Just ten more minutes?”

Or do you spring to action?

Do you climb out of bed and start your day?

Truth be told, there’s nothing inherently wrong with sleeping in.

No one is going to look down on you because you choose to get up at the last possible moment before having to leave for work.

So why do it?

If sleeping in isn’t wrong, why give up the extra sleep?

You give up the comfort and warmth of your bed because among other things it sets the tone for your day.

How you respond to that first test sets you on a path. A path towards strength, action, and victory. Or a path towards timidity, reaction, and weakness.

There are two paths and the one you choose determines a great deal.

They can simultaneously be your best friend and your worst enemy. As with most things, there is a dichotomy. There are two paths to how you treat your emotions.

One puts too much stock in them and believes them good guides for decision making etc.

The second sees them as triggers. They use them as sign posts that tell them to get in the game and change how they behave.

Negative emotions like anger, fear, or frustration alert you to a problem within your own heart and mind. These feelings serve as warning sirens that give you the chance to change paths before things get ugly and out of hand.

It’s a small distinction, but an important one.

One uses these feelings as the basis for behavior, while the other allows the same feelings to trigger better and more controlled responses.

Changing how you look at something changes everything, even when that change is something small and noticeable only within your mind.