The First Day of the Rest of My Life: Goals
I awoke this morning to my daughter whimpering in my ear, “Mommy, get up. I want to go in the playroom…now!” The clock on my nightstand flashed 5:39am. No meditation for me this morning. My head was cloudy, with a dull ache resulting from the second glass of wine I enjoyed during last night’s celebration of my last day of work. My son woke up a few minutes later and our harried morning routine began. I plodded through, my mind distracted by the loose ends I’d left behind after 10 years in a job that I’d once loved, but had outgrown. I managed to get the kids to car line just before the school door closed for the morning. I rushed across town for an appointment, only to be stood up…by my therapist. The first day of the rest of my life was not off to a promising start.
For my personal experiment I chose to continue with the morning routine/sadana practice I began during my ayurvedic experiment. My goal was to follow a routine 6-7 days/week. These are the steps I planned to enact each day:
- Wake up 5:30am
- Splash face
- Rinse mouth, brush teeth and tongue
- Drink water
- Elimination
- Asana
- Chant
- Pranayama
- Meditation
My goal was to set aside about 45 minutes for the above routine. I chose this experiment because I am looking for grounding during a time of significant transition. I am in the midst of making a career change and I have a lot of negative emotions, baggage, etc. that I need to let go of in order to make space for whatever lies ahead. I have spent time reflecting on what changes I need to make internally in order to move ahead more powerfully. I have recognized that the most critical personal characteristics I want to develop are discipline, confidence and self-acceptance. I believe that my morning ritual, with a focus on the “Healing Blue Triangle” meditation and “Meditation to Increase Shakti,” has definitely helped to keep me feeling not only grounded, but also empowered, released and connected to something larger than myself, as I leave the safety of a job that was no longer tolerable, and move into the great unknown.