My friend Abby says “Dress for the day you want to have, not the day that’s trying to have you.”

Her words echo what my mom used to tell us when we were children. We were home-schooled, but she never let us stay in pajamas for school. We had to get dressed, and not sweatpants either. My traditionally-schooled friends never quite got over their shock at this.

“This is your job,” Mom would remind us. “You can’t wear pajamas to work. Research shows that you take your work or studies more seriously if you dress for them.”

I’d sigh and sulk and shuffle back to my room to change.

Now that I’m an adult, I know that she and Abby are right. I’ve tried it.

If I stay in my pajamas, I make much different choices with my time than I do if I dress for the gym or for going out in public. (Although I have to confess I’m getting really good at dressing for the gym and considering that close enough. I haven’t been in two weeks!) If I know I’m presentable, my entire outlook on the day changes.

Last night, I stayed up too late watching the debate and working. Then my youngest woke me up terrified from a nightmare. It took me a good two hours to feel fully awake this morning, but I have a lot of work to do. I can’t afford to be unproductive today. I knew that if I stayed in my pajamas, I’d spend the entire day wallowing in sleep-deprived sluggishness.

So I decided to get dressed for the day anyway.

I experimented with shoes (I’m a boots girl, not a heels girl, it turns out). I even put on red lipstick. And some mascara. Then, because we had a little extra time, I walked my youngest to preschool instead of driving. It is a beautiful morning here, and now that I’m home, I’m in a much better frame of mind to settle in at my laptop and dig into a technical report.

Do you dress for the day you want? I’m making a commitment to do it along with Abby. Join us here!

***

On Wednesdays, I host a link-up for anyone willing to step away from the pretense that all is well, take off their mask, and write naked. When we’re brave enough to be real about both the good and the bad days, we can offer real encouragement to those who in one of those bad days. Stop pretending life is perfect. It isn’t, and you just make the people around feel worse about their bad days when they think they are alone.

If you’ve written anything unmasked, link up below! Please link back to this post (here’s the link: http://wp.me/p2n5xv-Ck ) so your readers can learn and maybe join in too, and then make sure to visit at least two others and leave them encouraging comments.