Meet the Day
Simple Ways to Ease Our Days and Mornings
Image by Dave Ruck from Unsplash
Much has been written about the benefits of intentional mornings and adopting practices that include time outdoors, relaxed exchange with people, and unhurried time with ourselves. The foundation of such practices is cultivating tranquility. In our complex world, tranquility may seem distant. Developing tranquility is possible however, and for many the first few minutes of the morning is a great and manageable place to start. We can set a tone every day simply by meeting and greeting the day. Rising from a disposition of welcome and peace benefits our emotional and physical health in numerous documented ways. The concept of peace exists across the languages and cultures of the world past and present, but peace can be a challenging word to define. Peace within an individual refers to a state of assurance and calm. When we are at peace, we feel an equilibrium about ourselves, the world, and our place in it. We are more relaxed, we see opportunities rather than obstacles, and our outlook brightens. Evidence suggests that operating from a disposition of peace also serves us in our personal and professional relationships, aiding us in being measured and clear with others when it is time to do so.
Studies underscore the benefits and importance of unhurried, electronics-free time with ourselves. Beginning the day with gratitude and in peace, whatever our challenges, can be transformational. Peace is an inside job however, an inner state, and many find it elusive. There are steps that can help us cultivate peace and calm. Actions we can take include:
Default to gratitude. Default to opportunity-thinking rather than obstacle-thinking in all that you do.
Talk to yourself as a friend, not an annoyance or an enemy. Part ways with self-consciousness about your less-mainstream ways of being. Who you are is of far more importance than where you were born, what you have, your education, your network, or your bank balance. Be grateful for all the good there is, stand tall, and cultivate character.
Don’t say yes when you shouldn’t, can’t, or truly don’t care to say yes. Determine what works for you, and politely decline invites and requests when it’s time to do so.
Take pride in your surroundings. Wherever we find ourselves, we can cultivate pride of place. Rearrange and remove clutter. Make space. Enjoy what you have and find the good things that are happening in the place where you are.
Get outside. Look around. Take some time, walk or sit without electronics, and note what’s there.
Finally, find or write a verse, a sentence, or a piece of poetry that you find centering and lovely. Refer to it often.
An excerpt from the centering and lovely Oremus, by Irish poet and reconciliation advocate Pádraig ó Tuama:
Let us listen to the sounds
of our own voices,
of our own names,
of our own fears.
Let us name the harsh light and
soft darkness that surround us.
Let’s claw ourselves out from the graves we’ve dug. Let’s lick the earth from our fingers. Let us look up and out and around.
The world is big and wide and wild and wonderful and wicked,
and our lives are murky, magnificent, malleable, and full of meaning. Oremus.
Each day, we can set a tone and welcome the morning. We can take steps to meet and greet our days with gratitude, and to the extent possible, in peace.