Golden Moments
Most of us hit the ground running every morning. If it’s going to be a busy, busy day, we crank up our energy and plow through it. Children get dropped off, pets go to the vet, dry cleaning gets picked up, meals get bought, appointments made, people are contacted, Facebook is checked, work gets done, kitchen gets cleaned and finally we get into bed and our minds say “Now that you’re not busy doing stuff and I have your attention, let’s figure EVERYTHING out!”.
The house is quiet, the street is quiet and yet your mind feels like the starting line at the marathon after the gun goes off. Thoughts, dozens of them, vying for your attention. Even though you want to sleep, there are always one or two that you think need your attention before morning and if you should be so uncaring as to slip off to sleep, those thoughts will wait a couple of hours and then shout in your mind “Okay, you’ve had enough sleep to contemplate us so let’s get back to where we were before you decided to nap. Now where were we? Oh yeah, you might as well get up and go into the kitchen. We’ve got some thinking to do or maybe we’ll read or watch a little TV first and then we’ll think some more.” Familiar?
The answer to this madness is found in our day and not in our night. Our habit of staying “on” all day keeps us that way at night too. To counteract this we need to learn to relax. Not by running off to the beach but by becoming totally present several times a day and in those moments intentionally dropping our shoulders, sitting up straight, taking a deep centering breath or two or three and for that brief moment, recalling one of the great blessings in our life. Those are called “golden moments”. If your blessings don’t come easily to mind, make a short list and use it.
By intentionally taking charge of our mind in that state of temporary relaxation, we begin to create new neural pathways that make it easier and easier with each repetition. Then, when we want to turn off our mind as we slip into bed, it is the same process. When we are awaken at night, it is the same process. The “Golden Moments” during our day soon turn into a golden sleep at nighttime. Go for the gold!
(c)2013 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
Facebook – Sundrops On Life
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