To your friends.
Here is a meditation to encourage you to enter the new morning.
With gratitude,
Hope and enthusiasm.
But before jumping into the meditation,
Need an opportunity to come into this present moment.
So let's take a little time to relax.
Close your eyes if you wish.
The important thing is to make sure that you're sitting comfortably.
Welcome to the wonderful gift of this new day.
We'll take one minute,
Just 60 seconds.
To bring ourselves fully into the now.
Welcome back.
And now,
Our morning reflection.
Hello,
Morning,
My old friend.
It's good to meet with you again.
I want to apologise for all the times that I've taken you for granted.
And I think of how often I have failed to notice you.
But enough of the past.
Let's see what can be done to help fix things for today and tomorrow.
Each new day is a new beginning.
As we come to life again after the dark of the night.
We are offered a clean slate.
A blank page.
But the clean slate and the possibility of new beginnings.
Can go unnoticed.
Unless we manage to take time to stop.
And pause.
And think.
How many times have we rushed into today?
As if it was a simple continuation of yesterday.
Rather than a fresh start.
Unless we take time to pause and reflect.
Our lives can become a succession of days.
Running one into the next.
Like the constant torning of a treadmill.
There has to be a better way to approach this wonderful existence of ours.
So today,
Let us make up for any earlier neglect.
Let's take time to pause and realise how wonderful it is to be here.
We have done nothing to bring about our existence.
But yet,
Here we are.
Out of the countless billions of possible combinations of cells that give rise to life.
We are each the beneficiaries of this precious gift.
The life of each one of us is unique.
Every single one of us is irreplaceable.
We all have within the possibility of leaving this world a little better than we found it.
You are the only one with the opportunity to respond to what life offers you.
And the same goes for me.
It's the same for every single one of us.
Each of us has a unique and individual contribution to make.
A contribution that cannot be made by anyone else.
So some resolutions as we enter into this new day.
First of all,
Let us be grateful.
We are here.
There is the famous saying of Maestro Eckhart.
If the only prayer you say in your entire life is thank you.
It is enough.
These are words that I would like to see on my own coffin and tombstone.
Not too soon.
The second resolution.
Let us be kind.
Kindness makes such a difference.
It doesn't necessarily involve a million dollar donation to charity.
That's a wonderful gesture by those who can afford to make it.
Day-to-day kindness is different.
And it offers an opportunity to each of us.
Even if we don't have a million or more to give away.
Day-to-day kindness simply involves noticing other people.
Being determined to do no harm.
Listening out for what might be going on.
And for what might be going wrong.
In the lives of the people around us.
Kindness involves simple things.
Like lending a helping hand.
Offering a listening ear.
Being there for people.
These things require no extraordinary skill.
They just need us to practice awareness.
Watching out for other people and helping where we can will involve a little time.
But time is the gift that each of us has received without charge.
And we're only too well aware of how we can all spend the gift of time carelessly.
Yet time is our most valuable possession.
And isn't it wonderful to think it?
That we can spend it in a way that makes a difference.
A pause note for reflection before we move on.
Welcome back.
Some other ideas for this new day.
Let's abandon worrying about the past.
Few of us,
If any,
Can be proud of our past.
But we have all learned its lessons.
We cannot change the past.
But lessons learned from the past.
Can allow us to change the future.
So let's drop any concerns about the past.
Put them in a box labelled the past.
And leave them there.
The box closed.
And let us not be so worried about the future.
How many times have you and I worried about something that never came to pass?
That doesn't mean that we abandon all forward planning.
We can't just allow the future to take care of itself.
That's another extreme,
And we don't want to go there.
Today,
In this hour,
Even in this minute.
We can take some steps.
Even the simplest of steps.
Which will help us to bring about the future we desire.
The key to the future lies in the door of this present moment.
And finally.
.
.
And maybe most important of all.
Today,
Let us take special care.
Of the people who know us and still love us.
How many times have we lost family members and friends?
And wished for just one more day.
One more hour even.
To enjoy one final conversation.
But again,
Let's not concern ourselves with the mistakes of the past.
Looking around us today,
We can see family and friends who love and care for us.
Let's take every opportunity to love and care for them in return.
Everything changes and the things will not always be as they are.
As we enter mindfully into this new day.
Let us be open to all the wonder that surrounds us.
If we really pay attention,
We will come to realise that we live in a Garden of Eden.
Despite all the difficulties and challenges,
We are enjoying another day in paradise.
In a place full of possibilities.
This new day and every day.
Let's do all we can to spread light and happiness in this wonderful world.
Namaste.
