Good morning!

Since our day is greatly dependent on how we begin our mornings, give yourself some extra time to calmly organize for your day.  I know this can be hard.  I am not a morning person.  If it was up to me, life would start around 11:00am.  But, it isn’t up to me, so if you can’t beat them – join them.

I bound out of bed every day by 5:30 or 6:00 and give myself thirty to sixty minutes to center, sort, and get in the right mindset to face the day.  I do some positive reading, I put on my makeup, I write my affirmations, I take a look outside, I say a quick prayer.  I don’t oversleep very often, but when I do and don’t have this “centered time,” my day looks more like “A Thousand Paths to Chaos” than the quote above from A Thousand Paths to Tranquility.

For those of you with school-age children, try to get in this habit now, before the start of the school year.  It will be much easier to wake up your children with a smile and a compliment if you have had that cup of coffee and a chance to center yourself.  Morning should be a pleasant time, not a mad dash and scramble to get everyone directed down their path for the day.  Everyone will feel so much better, all-the-day through, by getting a confident and calming send-off first thing in the morning.

Your Turn:  Find fifteen to thirty minutes of time for YOU in the morning.  Tune out daily demands and pressures and tune into the positive.  Consider reading a positive passage from a book, writing affirmations or reading them aloud, or writing in a journal.  Give yourself some “soul food” to begin your day.

Today’s Affirmation:  I care for myself and in turn care better for others when I give myself morning reflective time.

And as always, don't forget to start your day with a heartfelt: "Something great is going to happen today... I can't wait to see what it is!"

And when ending your day ask yourself: "What is one more thing I can do to make today matter?

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