There is a time, very early in the morning, before the sun comes up, when the earth is still and quiet. The stars still twinkle overhead, but start to slowly fade from view. There is no wind, not even a breeze. And there is silence. And then, softly, almost imperceptably, a small breeze may appear. A bird may start to sing in a tree nearby. The sun is still below the horizon, but everything starts to stir and a prepare for the new day ahead. The stars wink out one by one. This is the most magical time of the day. It is a time of possibilities, a new beginning. A gift offered to us once every 24 hours. Sadly, most of us miss this enchanting time. Even if we’ve crawled from the warmth and security of our beds, we’re already busy planning our day, listening to the news, and any number of other things that we do to distract ourselves and disconnect with the natural cycle of the planet. Our minds are racing ahead to the day itself and everything on our to do list. We rarely if ever, even notice what’s going out just outside our window. I challenge you to wake up a few minutes early tomorrow and go outside. Go out before you turn on the tv or hop in the shower. Just spend a few minutes in silence. Celebrate the new day, this gift that you’ve been given. Breath deeply and feel the world around you as it awakens from slumber. If the sun is already peeking over the horizon, turn you face to it and say thank you for it’s warmth and light. Thank you for another day. Thank you for my life and all my many blessings. Thank you for this beautiful planet upon which I’m so lucky to live. Let me know what happens.

The last couple of years have been full of sad news from around the world. Most recently the events in New Zealand and now Japan have made us all aware of how vunerable we are. We tend to forget that we’re always at the mercy of Mother Nature in all her amazing forms. But as horrifying as these things are they make us realize how resilient and strong people are. While we can’t and never will be able to control nature, we can control our response to catastrophe. In the midst of all the devastation we find ways to reach out to each other. Our human spirit grieves the losses and rallies at the cries for help. We find ways to overcome even the most horrible events and carry on. Strangers reach out to each other with love and hope and together we are able to rebuild our lives and our world. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we did this every day and not just when things are chaotic and our minds reel to understand? What if we nurtured this spirit of oneness and forgot about our differences and our fear? Can you even imagine how our lives would change? If we all do our part, no matter how small, to create a sustainable planet and learn to embrace each other with love and acceptance each and every day, we can create a unified world that no longer feeds off war, fear, hunger, disease and seperateness. As John Lennon so eloquently put it “ Imagine all the people sharing sharing all the world”. Let’s don’t let times of disaster be the only times we reach out to each other and show our compassion and love. And lets strive to enjoy and protect our magnificent planet. Whether we realize it or not, we are all connected…..to each other and to the earth and all of her creatures.

Today we moved the clocks forward for another season of daylight savings time. I find this idea ridiculous. How can you save daylight? Is this man’s inherent need to control what can’t be controlled? Daylight just is what it is. It comes and it goes according to the seasons. You can’t put it in the bank or tuck it away somewhere to save for later. Once it’s gone, it’s gone and you can’t get it back. Does it really matter if you get up earlier every day so you can enjoy sunlight for another hour every evening? What about enjoying getting up with the sun and hearing the birds singing outside your window instead of driving to work in the dark and missing out on a beautiful sunrise. Are we so focused on doing more and more that we think we have to have that extra hour of light when we get home in the evening? Our bodies are made to flow with the turn of the earth and the seasons. For some mysterious reason, we seem to have forgotten that to be in harmony with nature is really the best thing for us. It’s no wonder that so many people are stressed out and unhappy. We’re always trying to do more, be more, control what can’t be controlled. And what are we saving by doing this? Time? Daylight? I don’t think so. All we’re really doing is stressing ourselve further and disconnecting with the natural harmony that sustains us. We’re already sleep deprived and spend time rushing headlong into our futures instead of enjoying our now. In the end, we’re not saving anything and we may actually be losing precious moments of our lives. Are you a fan of daylight savings time?

My friend at work was telling me recently about her experience at church. She said she and her husband always sit in the same pew with the same people both in front of them and behind them. One Sunday, they impulsively decided to sit somewhere else. As a result, the people they were sitting next to thought they were new members even thought they’d been attending the same church for years. The people they usually sat next to, thought they just weren’t there. She met a lot of new people and got a whole new perspective which excited her because it was such a positive experience. It got me to thinking about how we are such creatures of habit and what we miss out on because of it. For me, I’ve learned that shaking things up once in awhile is a really good thing. Something as simple as taking a different route to work can completely change my outlook on the day as well as help get my creative juices flowing more freely. Why is it that we are so often afraid to move outside our comfort zone? Moving around and getting a different perspective makes things so much more interesting and you never know who you might meet or what adventure you might have. I highly recommend it. Life is just too short. Keeping your head in the sand serves no purpose but to make you blind to the amazing possibilitie all around you. Move on out of that comfort zone and enjoy everything life has to offer. You never know what you may be missing.