The miracle of a new day

We all have routines that we practise every day. Mine is get up, make the bed (have you read my earlier blog about making your bed every morning? Start the day with kindness), drink orange juice, take my supplement pills, drink coffee, have a shower and so on right through to the end of the day (right before bed, I have a very specific facial routine which I carry out without fail) Apart from a few variables and depending on what day of the week it is, I definitely have set routines for each day. I love routines; they ground me with consistency and enable me to function mindfully throughout my day. Although I expect the number of coffees, I like to have each morning – the grand total of 4 normally – is probably not the most mindful of routines, but hey, I love coffee.

So, if you are still reading this, you may be thinking where’s this going. Stick with me. Almost every single day, I have three routines which I follow without fail – between 10-50 minutes’ worth of yoga, between 7-9 hours of sleep and a sit down together family meal. These 3 routines help me to feel good, stay positive and in touch with what matters most to me. However, I’ve found a flaw in the practise of routines. Occasionally I find I start feeling rebellious in my routines and even sometimes annoyance. My mind will start nudging me with thoughts such as When will this yoga video come to an end so I can get on with something else or Perhaps I could just check my phone during dinner, surely once isn’t a bad influence on my daughter. As gently and kindly as I can, I will nudge these thoughts away and most of the time, they simply remain as thoughts. Occasionally they become actions, which annoy me, but then I remind myself I am human and its okay to have slips. The slips make me more determined in the end not to think in negative patterns.

Still with me? Well, all this thinking about routines; three meals a day – work – home – sleep – repeat; whether your routines are positive or even possibly harmful depending on your mindset, we are all wired to the routine of life rather than the miracle of life. By focusing so much on everything we have to do each day, what we’ve trained ourselves over years of practise and influence from others – from our parents and generally living in a capitalist society, going to school where we are wired for daily routines, I feel a sense of sadness for our general disconnection to what makes life so miraculous. How many of our daily thoughts are focused around this miracle? It is a new day, I am alive, I have all that I need. I am loved. I am here on this beautiful earth spinning in an infinite universe. When a new baby is born, we marvel, we coo, we wonder at all the adventures to come in their life, but soon that 4-year-old is sent to school and the celebration of life abruptly ends in my opinion. Training for routines begin. Actually, this probably starts happening even earlier in most cases. Why don’t we celebrate life every day? I’m not talking about worshipping the sun and the moon, although to me that sounds quite intriguing. I’m saying why don’t we see each day as a small miracle, another unchartered and magical opportunity? How amazing would it be to wake up each morning with a smile that is connected to the miraculous new day that has been given you. Take a moment before the routines kick in to glory in your life, that you are loved – even if that is simply self-love, and start the journey of each new day with this miraculous philosophy grounding us in gratitude and wonder.