There are a number of very simple steps we can take to begin to free ourselves. One of the easiest is to get up early in the morning. This gives us the opportunity to start the day with a leisurely pace -- to take a short walk, if you like, and then to have your meditation, without worrying about [time]. --
"Words to Live By," Eknath Easwaran, June 22
Getting up early in the morning was the first concrete evidence I gave myself that I really was willing to go to any lengths to grow spiritually.
At my first-ever retreat, the spiritual director told me (in answer to my very serious complaint that I was sleeping my weekends away) that I needed to set my alarm for 5:00 AM every day, and the instant it started to ring, get up...instantly, p.d.q., quicker than quick. And I believed her, and I did that, and I have been doing that ever since...forty years later. Only I haven't had to set an alarm in thirty-nine years.
[Sidebar: Just by-the-by, when I was still working, I got up at 4:30 every morning, and only went back to 5:00 when I retired because I wanted to know a complete break from my working world. Scrupulosity...what can I say?]
It's interesting, I think, that the reason I was told that getting up really early is important is that is before my world starts moving and shaking and rocking and rolling. Even though we may live in a very quiet neighborhood, or out on a farm!, the vibrations of the world can and do reach us, affect us, determine our mood without our ever being aware exactly what is [up]setting the tone of our day.
If we want to quit being driven by outside factors, we need to take responsibility for our inside conditioning...specifically, how we start and live our day, each day.
To have a spiritual start, which can carry us through the entire day, just get up a couple hours earlier than our usual. And thank God.
Thank you.
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