I love my Morning Rituals:
I wake up early every morning–at least an hour before anyone else is awake. It’s my favorite time of the day. I crave the clear and peaceful feeling of those hours before the sun comes up. My mind works best when it is rested and has no outside noise to distract my thinking.
Study, Prayer, and Meditation:
- I begin by “sitting in my chair” and visualizing my purpose. This visualization includes personal study time–usually beginning with scripture and often moving to a deeper study of a concept or question that stands out to me–and meditation–sitting still, getting quiet, praying. I do this until I feel connected to my Higher Power (which to me is the Godhead: God the Father; His Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost.) This connection gives me an inner strength that and opens me up to intuition/personal revelation.
Journaling:
- Next, I go to my journal(s) and write. I like to start by writing about my “favorite memory from the past 24 hours” in detail. Favorite memories feel good and put me in a high vibrational state as I move into a new day.
- Next I write three things that I am grateful for. I do this every day. Gratitude puts me in a state of gladness, knowing that no matter what, my life is always amazing.
- In another journal, I record any ah-has, thoughts and ideas I may have received during my study time.
- Occasionally, in yet another journal, I process limiting thoughts and beliefs that could potentially hold me back if I don’t first name them and then tame them.
How do study, meditation, and journaling help me find courage?
As I mentioned before, study and mediation are the catalyst to my journal time. They provide the thoughts that move through my pen and onto my journal pages. Journaling is very powerful for me–it helps me to discover my innermost feelings and desires, which leads me to discover the “next step” out of my comfort zone. This is the part where Introspection meets Courage–where the rubber meets the road.
(Click here to learn more about the power of journaling from one of my phenomenal coaches, Kim Ades.)
To paraphrase Brene Brown’s definition of courage,
Courage comes from connecting to your heart and allowing it to be seen.
My study and meditation time connects me to my heart, and by journaling immediately after that connection is established, I am able to reveal my heart to myself and feel the parts that are yearning to come out of hiding and be seen.
The process has been revealing to me in many ways. When it was new, I fought the impressions I received. I battled with the fear of opening my heart box and worked hard to convince myself that no one needed to see all that I have inside of me. I tried to tell myself that none of it mattered. Still, the power of my morning process was real enough to keep me committed. It has brought clarity to my purpose; it has shown me that many of my “fears” are tied to things that I have always wanted to do but have been afraid of being seen. This realization has given me courage to share my inner desires that have been locked in my fear box for so long. With the help of beautiful mentors, I have been able to define the necessary action steps that are moving me out of my box and into the most exhilarating freedom!
It feels SO good to do be doing the things that I have been telling myself for so long that I couldn’t do.
I don’t completely understand why we human beings do this to ourselves – how we can want something so much and yet forbid ourselves to pursue it. At the same time, I get it. We all long for safety, and sometimes we believe that we are safest when we don’t take risks. The irony of it all is that the opposite is true–safety comes from taking risks, from being seen and heard.
Most of the fears we feel are based on our interpretation of what we think might happen, and usually our stories cause us to believe that it’s going to way worse than it really is. By facing my fears, I have learned that not only was it nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be, most of the time I also discovered that “the other side” is way better than I ever imagined it could be! Feeling fear has almost become an obsession for me, and one of my greatest desires is that by allowing people to watch me continually expand my own safety zone, I can inspire them to do the same.
Life is a gift! It is meant to be lived! And there truly is more happiness on the “other side.”
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