Daybreak: the perfect time to break free

Daybreak is magic. And magnificent. I’ve always been an early riser. Daybreak has a slow-build beauty for me. The older I get the easier it is to be up before dawn. It’s more important, too. The transition from “the darkest hour” to the slowly lightening sky invites my patience. I love sitting in the certainty that the day will break open, regardless of how much I want it to hurry.

If you don’t believe in waking up early…earlier…daybreak early, you may give that some thought.

Being a daybreak riser is a good idea.

1. Early birds are happier. A study at the University of Toronto surveyed 435 adults aged 17-38 and 237 aged 59-79. Although the older group definitely preferred the earlier wake-up, both groups reported associated happy emotions with the “morningness. ” 
2. You’ll be more creative. When you watch and hear the day awaken–porches and patios are great for this–you have to notice that a brand new day is being created around you. Enjoy the ideas, the visions, the sounds.
3. There’s joy in time specifically, ideally for your Self. This is the part of the day you are most likely to experience the least interruptions, impositions, invasions. Savor the solitude.

Waking at daybreak can be easy.

1. The first and most sensible thing to do is to go to bed earlier. You don’t want rising early to deprive you of valuable sleep. Approach this gradually. Heading for bed an hour earlier than usual may only mean 55 minutes of trying to get to sleep. Start with 15-minute increments.
2. Use a friendly alarm such as chimes or soothing music. You don’t have to be shocked out of sleep. And create your own “day greeting.” What will you say to Spirit, to the day, to yourself that says you’re glad to be and to be awake? (Thank you, God, as I begin this day. Thank you for your light within me.)
3. Once you’re awake and out of bed, don’t hang around the bedroom. Do what you need to do and move to wherever you will cherish the daybreak.

Helping your daybreak time matter more.

1. When you first wake-up, drink a full glass of water. Your body dehydrates as you sleep. Drinking a full glass will help your body and your mind wake up.
2. Enjoy praying. Think of all you have to be thankful for, starting with waking up to another brand new day. Then what lies ahead of you that you anticipate with gladness and eagerness. Pray on from there.
3. Write or create. As said above, you’ll be more creative at this precious time of day. Take advantage of it in your journal, on your sketch pad, with some clay or paints.

 

Thanks for the Daybreak

Good morning, God!
I greet and salute the day with total gladness!
I savor its beauty, whether the sun fills the sky
or rain showers the earth.
I absorb its wake-up energies and take them
as my own, fueling me for today.
This day, breaking now, is unlike any before it
and different from all days yet to come.
This day is unique and special.
And so it is. Amen.

Love and blessings,

13 June 2017

 

The Beautiful You

That you are beautiful is really beyond dispute. The beauty of everyone of us is fact. No matter how hard we may work to convince ourselves of our imperfections, the truth is that God creates perfection from perfection.

The difficulties we face in knowing ourselves as beauty and as perfection, are difficulties we create. We invent lenses through which we see ourselves as imperfect. That’s what we tell ourselves the senses perceive: imperfection.

Step outside our human vision of ourselves and take on unlimited perspectives that let us see how beautiful we are.

Our bodies. It’s so typical to see our body’s limits: shape, strength, age, weight, features. I invite us instead to look beyond our usual view. How miraculous is our human body? Perfectly engineered to fuel itself, eliminate waste, correct the threats of illness and injury, renew its very substance over and over. So, is that not real beauty?

Our faces. Society and media define “beauty.” We allow that narrow definition to further narrow our view and opinion of what is beautiful. Likely that view may be so narrow we exclude ourselves from “beautiful”. Please pay close attention to the wonder of our faces. They laugh. They smile. Tears flow. Passions show. How much our faces express without need of words. How much beauty is that?

Our wants and needs. Because we may quest for material and social prosperity, we may saddle ourselves with the baggage of “not enough.” Those saddlebags can weigh us down. That’s hardly a beautiful experience. What if we put aside the “don’t have enough” consciousness. What if we build the habit of attending what we really are and what we always have. Maybe appreciating all that we have instead of just attending it. BTW, why not start by appreciating our bodies and faces.

Our surrounding world. As we look to what surrounds us and look for beauty in everything that is, we will fill our Selves with what is beautiful consciousness. We can smell more roses. We can know more character in senior faces, more strength in stooped shoulders, and more joy in tender touches. That lets us know more beauty.

A “Beautiful” Prayer

Glorious Presence,
we know your beauty flows into all of us.
Your beauty shows through us from within.
We appreciate your beauty shows as love,
as peace, as joy, as harmony.
The beauty that is ours is ours to share
and as we share
to give thanks that we are
your beautiful child.
And so it is. Amen.

Love and blessings,

12 June 2017

Prayerful Life: 2 weeks’ review

Being back to Prayerful Life for the last two weeks has been so much fun and energy. Seems worth a quick review — and a chance for you to look back at one or more of the posts more closely.

Memorial Day Thanksgiving
A simple reminder of the role people in service play, the protection they give, the sacrifice they offer.

Praying Grace
“Basically, grace is God’s first name, and probably last too.”  And something worth praying to and about!

Affirmations and Prayers
Comparison (and contrast) of affirmations and prayers. And a few links to some affirmations websites.

Silence. It’s Power. It’s Beauty.
Thoughts about the power and the beauty of silence…and the good that comes from honoring it.

Your Best Impression
The impressions we make on others are enhanced to blessings when we see the Christ Spirit everyone IS.

5 Ways to Boost Inner Peace
Ways to find and create greater comfort of our Self, starting with seeing, (not)ending with singing.

Feed the Body.
The first of 3 posts about the Body-Mind-Spirit each of us is…and how to boost the power and joy of each.

Fuel the Mind. 
Exercises to enhance the mind and its contributions to our Body-Mind-Spirit self.

Freshen the Spirit.
Keeping our spiritual self from becoming stale by being taken for granted…a few tips.

Praying about Prayerful Life

Good friend God,
my motivation to return to Prayerful Life
is such a gift from you.
Thank you.
Our motivation, Good Friend, to find and make
ways that boost our very being
in any way, in every way,
is such a gift from you.
Thank you.
We are joyful and peaceful and energetic
in whatever ways we choose to let you know
what you already know:
that we are glad and grateful,
that we are blessed.
And so it is. Amen.

Love and blessings,

9 June 2017

Panda photo (c)Encyclopedia Britannica

Freshen Spirit.

Now we will freshen the spirit leg of the body-mind-spirit triangle. Each leg contributes to our total being. Admittedly, we have progressed in these 3 posts from least to most important, from tool (body) to carpenter (mind) to architect (spirit).

This third leg is our connection with that something greater than (but not necessarily ‘outside of’) ourself. I call it God. It may be Yahweh, Abba, Energy, Source, or even nameless. My spirit connects my heart with my mind, connects my everyday this-and-that with the ideal of all I am (and you are) part of. It is beyond being human being. It certainly involves that.

Why freshen it? The more I rely on what I believe and how I view the belief, the more comfortable I am. Comfort comes with familiarity. I won’t go so far as “familiarity breeds disrespect.” I can, however, say comfort lets me take the belief for granted which, for me, can mean staleness.

And staleness calls for refreshing! So. Five tips for freshening your/my/our spirit.

Pray. 
I hold three points essential:

1. You can pray anyway you want because there are infinite ways to pray, not only with words.
2. As there is not only ‘one right way’, there is no wrong way to pray.
3. More praying is better.

Sing.
Singing may be the best way to praise your very own spirit. Find the songs that lift your personal spirit. Sing them aloud. Then sing them louder. Sing them loud.

Observe.
Because spirit is not just something we each possess individually, it is possible to see the abundance of spirit just about every place you look. The trick is to build the habit, until it becomes second nature, to pause and see. To notice and appreciate. To stop and see the roses and the vine and the leaves and the thorns and their oneness. Hint: decide tomorrow morning to “stop and notice” 5 times. During the day, check-in and verify that you have stopped, you have noticed.

Hear.
Tune up your ears. As you see more, hear more too. Barraged by words, noise, sounds, it may require special effort to listen actively for sounds you don’t normally hear. Check the recent post regarding silence. Then do not just hear, do not just listen. Make a moment for yourself to reflect on the presence of spirit, your spirit, in whatever you hear.

Explore. 
Here I give spirit a spiritual meaning. Learn how others approach spirit. Bring into play the first 4 tips. How do others pray? What does praying do for them? How do their songs express their faith, their praise? Do you observe specific lessons from their rituals and their realities? What do you hear, perhaps from the small voice inside your head?

Spirit Freshener

Sweet Spirit,
you are the supreme blessing,
the presence and power that connects
all parts of my being–
my body and mind–
with all parts of your creation.
The awareness I have of all that surrounds me
reinforces that I am One with all of that,
that all of that is One with me.
And so it is. And so I thank you, Spirit.

Love and blessings,

8 June 2017

 

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