Morning Notes: 365 Meditations to Wake You Up (Spiritually Inspiring Book, Affirmations, Wisdom, Better Life) - Softcover

Prather, Hugh

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1573242543 ISBN 13: 9781573242547

Publisher: Conari Press, 2005

Synopsis

Begin Each Day in the Right State of Mind

These morning meditations by author Hugh Prather are just what you need to start your day right. His words will put you on the path to living a more loving and fulfilling life.

Daily reflections to kickstart your day. Start each morning this year with the words of bestselling author, counselor, and minister Hugh Prather. Prather asks readers to consider the holistic nature of our lives―noting that how we start our day affects everything, from our mind and spirit to our family and work. If we start in an agitated mood, we face the day with a combative spirit. But when we begin in a peaceful mood, we open the door to welcome in more opportunities and graces.

Renew your determination to become a better person. With each page of this spiritual book, you are invited to live as if you think our world and the people in it are worth caring about and worth making time for. Because when we realize that they are, and that we are all united in a unique relationship (ourselves, others, and God), we wake up to our own responsibility for what happens to us. These daily meditations ask us to reflect on the spiritual task ahead of us.

Learn more about:

• The benefits of beginning each day with a peaceful mindset and a spiritual goal in mind
• Mindfulness meditations that awaken the mind and replenish the spirit
• How to start over and become a better person

If you enjoyed books like Power Thoughts Devotional, Good Days Start with Gratitude, Sacred Rhythms, or Little Book of Mindfulness, then you’ll love Morning Notes.

About this title

About the Author

Hugh Prather was the author of 16 books, including Spiritual Notes to Myself, Love and Courage, The Little Book of Letting Go, How to Live in the World and Still Be Happy, and Shining Through. As a minister and radio talkshow host, he counseled couples, singles, teenagers, and families in crisis. He passed away on November 15, 2010.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Morning Notes

365 Meditations to Wake You Up

By HUGH PRATHER

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

Copyright © 2005 Hugh Prather
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-57324-254-7

Contents

Introduction
365 Meditations to Wake You Up

CHAPTER 1

1To choose love is to begin again.

Clearly, our human family is in distress. Yet because of this, it is also moreopen to change. Today I join with countless others in a renewed determination tobe a better person—a truer parent to children, a more tolerant friend to others,a kinder coworker, a more committed partner. For this to happen, I must make upmy mind, because behavior that flows from conflicted thoughts can't becontrolled. Engaging in trench warfare with my personality doesn't work. Nordoes making resolutions that last only days or weeks. To succeed I must unite mymind around a single purpose. And love is the only true purpose, and the onlyreal unity.

2I know what to do. The only question is, will I do it.

I have never lived this day before. I am free to start fresh. My mistakes are inthe past. They can be my shame or my treasure of useful indicators. I will usethem to renew my faith and strengthen my resolve. Because of my mistakes, I knowwhat to do. Today I release the old ways that have split my mind and drained mypower. I will fill my thoughts with the newness of love and the simplicity ofpeace. Today I open myself to others so that I may open my heart to God.

3The answer is to let go of pressure, not add more.

My tendency is to make matters worse. Let me at least pause a moment and seewhat I want to do. When I set up a war within my mind, I put it between myselfand God, because I make conflict more important than everything else. When I tryto thwart other people, winning becomes more valuable to me than Love. And whenI try to dictate the course of events, I am immediately at odds with thesituation I'm already in. Yet when I relax into equality and trust in a greaterReality, life becomes simpler and my behavior modifies itself naturally.

4To free myself from useless battles, I put all things in God's hands.

Sooner or later, I must take a leap of faith. The existence of a sustaining Lovemakes no rational sense. It can only be felt when I exercise trust. As long as Iwait for signs, miracles, fulfillment of dreams, or just a slight improvement incircumstances, I will never know Reality. The divine can only be seen throughthe eyes of faith. Today I will proceed as if I already believe.

5Because the truth is true, letting go is all there is to do.

Everything I do today is like a little test. Do I want the question or theanswer, mental conflict or peace, to be right or happy, to be a burden to othersor a blessing, to awake or continue sleeping? Each decision I make moves me astep closer to Home or a step further away. Therefore, it's clear that since thechoice is between Truth and error, all I need do is to question—and therebyrelease—my desire to continue making the same mistakes.

6Instead of trying to force the day I want, let me embrace the day I am given.

Change begins with the willingness to make a modest effort each day. To at leasttry to let God be God, to let Truth be my truth. I betray what I believe when Ipush against events and other people. Naturally, if some change is helpful to meor another, I make it. But it's simply a fact that life is happier when I listento the music behind the scenery than when I nosily try to rearrange it.

7To be in God is simply to be connected.

I need something more than free will, independence, or specialness. I needsomething more than private thoughts, a personal code, or a splendid point ofview. I need people. Not in order to stay alive but in order to be fully alive,fully human, to be affectionate, funny, playful, generous, happy. I can love aconcept—I can study it, meditate on it, and repeat it to others—but I can'tthrow my arms around it. And that's what God is: arms around us all.

8Oneness is not cooperation. It is experiencing the familiar in another.

No one owes me anything. No one is obliged to meet my needs. People are people.They are not sexual experiences or career support or a series of well-wishers onmy daily rounds. They are not enemies of my enemies or my personal support groupor a way of killing time. People are not even a means for us to "get to the nextlevel." They don't exist to give to us, or to withhold. They are us.

9The only cost of forgiveness is to again be whole.

Isn't it obvious that anyone who wants to for give forgives easily? I must notunderestimate my desire to continue judging. But the problem with grievances,grudges, bitterness, and hurt feelings is that I have to remain damaged. I haveto remain living proof of the other person's guilt.

10When I see your heart, I want what you want.

"Love your neighbor as yourself" implies nothing more complicated than the factthat anything less than love is not love. The golden rule is not asking "Whatwould I want?" The question is what does my child, my friend, my partner, myparent truly want? Love does not guess; it enfolds, embraces, and understands.If we do not love someone outside ourselves, then quite simply, we do not loveourselves. God is love, and within the love of God there is no discrimination.

11Kindness is the touch of God.

If God is love, kindness is the key to happiness, freedom, and true success. Andif God is one, it is impossible that the practice of love would mean choosingbetween myself and another. I am being dishonest when I say that I must putmyself first. I must put love first. Today I will use the most powerful andtransformative of all spiritual practices: I will be kind. I will be kind tomyself, to everyone I encounter, and to everyone who crosses my mind.

12All around us is a welcoming Presence, but only by being kind can I feel it.

A gentle affect can disguise a malicious intent. Kindness is not smiling oragreeing or speaking softly. It must come from my heart and if expressed, alwaysinclude a silent blessing. Letting people know that I hold them in my prayerssometimes engages my ego because of the acknowledgment I seek. At other times,telling them that I am praying for them can be a way of connecting and showingsupport. Kindness must dictate the form my efforts take. Every living thing isheld in endless blessing by the divine. By being like God, we feel God.

13When I submit to Truth, I submit to harmlessness.

Submitting is not saying yes to every ego request or condoning destructivebehavior in myself or others. It has nothing to do with indecisive stands, shakyloyalties, or "seeing both sides" when a friend has been mistreated. Submittingis an impulse of sincerity, not an act of passivity or a show of impartiality.It is focusing sharply on my deeper self rather than on the superficial. Mybehavior is filled with God only when my heart is filled with God.

14By letting go, I fall into God.

If I "let go and let God," I allow Love to be within me. I quietly acknowledgeand embrace my true nature. Letting Love is extending love, looking gently,being quick to understand and slow to judge. It is relaxing, being still,accepting, and above all, giving up the illusion of control.

15The ego is always up to something. Unless I remain conscious, I will act it outin some way.

An action can't exclude the mind of the one who acts. My behavior may seemappealing or unappealing, admirable or objectionable, depending on the reactionsof those who view it. But another's take on what I do doesn't alter my intent,which is the true content of my behavior. Since all minds are connected, thedeeper effect of my actions is in what I think. That is why there are no privatethoughts or completely hidden motives. I can't expect to be a person whoconsistently makes life easier on my loved ones if I don't stay aware of mythoughts.

16We can accept one another and enjoy life, or judge one another and be unhappy.

Self-preoccupation is an unhappy state of mind, yet it offers several temporarypleasures, and these must be honestly looked at. For example, revenge can seemdeeply satisfying for a while and acts of ill will can make us feel moreconfident. But there is another set of pleasures that comes from empathy,tolerance, and trusting other people's processes, which never leads to misery.If there is indeed a greater Guidance, who am I to know what anyone else shouldbe doing? This is what is meant by trusting others.

17Closeness to God is first experienced as closeness to others.

There are personality types that are universally disliked. There are alsoindividuals who are destructive, even murderous. Yet personality is not allthere is to anyone. The experience of connection isn't dependent on how otherstalk to me or behave. Nor is it a matter of making someone like me. If we canfeel close to individuals who are miles away or even to people after they die,surely the potential exists to be at peace with those who are physicallypresent.

18A gentle and accepting mind always feels close to God.

I alone block my perception of Oneness by thinking defensively. It may berational to fear someone physically, but not spiritually. God does not hold meback from feeling close to anyone—telemarketer, teenager, politician, postalworker, cable company executive, spouse, or self-help author. When I relax mymind, my vision can now move past the sur face of things, and there, awaitingme, is a great Splendor.

19Make your state of mind more important than what you are doing.

Only the mind can be controlled. Health, income, relationships, longevity,reputation, and the like, can't be controlled. Personal destiny is merely thestory told by my body. Even the tiniest event can't be controlled, and theattempt to do so always splits the mind. In trying to control what I believe tobe outside my mind, I discount the power of my thoughts and fail to takeresponsibility for them.

20Inner peace is letting go of being right.

Obviously, I can't make myself right without making someone else wrong.Forgiveness is a choice. If I want to change my mind from an environment thattortures me to an environment that comforts me, I must make forgiving as routineas breathing. Forgiveness isn't something nice I do for another person; it'ssomething nice I do for my mental health.

21Acceptance is the way I bless myself.

My disdain, dismissal, hatred, or dislike of another does not punish thatindividual. It punishes me. I am the one with the bitter mind. I can' t pass onthat little piece of hell to another. Hatred destroys all awareness of lightwithin me, but unless I go out of my way to make others aware of it, they don'teven know I judge them.

22Our core is already positive. Choice is made possible by seeing how we routinelybetray our core.

If I look at a shadow closely enough, I see that it's merely a shadow. I releasemy negative impulses and thoughts by giving them more attention, not less. Noone acts out a judgment of which they are acutely aware. No one makes aconscious decision to act insanely against their own interests.

23If we are each in God's hands, judging another is an act of arrogance.

I merely delude myself if I think it is possible to judge. How could I know afaster or better way to transform another person's heart than the way God hasalready chosen? Judging is a not so subtle way of procrastinating, of puttingoff something I need to take responsibility for this instant. What am I avoidingthat I am taking time to judge?

24How could one person's way possibly be superior to another person's way if Godis leading us all?

If I believe that my spiritual path is superior, my path is not spiritual.Spirit is One. The divine doesn't contain degrees of correctness. Either we allshare the same Truth and ultimate destiny, or there is no truth and we are lostin a reality of private perception and momentary interpretation. The way out ofchaos is to stop analyzing and start experiencing, to stop looking for betterways to say it and start practicing more peaceful and inclusive ways of doingit.

25All thoughts are equally a part of the mind.

Notice how difficult it is merely to think in peace about any individual whocomes to mind. Still, that must be my aim if I am ever to experience consistentmental wholeness. My tendency is to disown the negative parts of my mind becauseit's uncomfortable to admit what they say about me. Yet I think what I think bychoice. All of it is my mind. My motivation to learn how to react peacefully tothose who people my thoughts should be enormous—once I consider the effects myattitudes have on me.

26I release you from your past, that I may see you as God sees you.

In conversations, those who are not present are often described in terms oftheir mistakes. Even individuals before us now are seen as stories and not asthey are this instant. In faithlessness we think, "You are created in the imageand likeness of your past." Yet it's not mentally dishonest to focus instead onwhat is fresh, different, and unexpected. The encounter I am having now hasnever occur red before. Except on a spiritual level, no one is ever the same,and their progress will not be evident if I only stare at the decisions I havealready made about them.

27We each journey on a path of mistakes.

When I look back, I don't have a consistent interpretation of which acts werevictories or defeats. And I have seen the same childhood circumstances as bothdamaging and beneficial. This much is clear: Many important gains have come onthe heels of my greatest mistakes. Progress is the process of correctingmistakes, not of being perfect. Today I will make starting over more importantthan looking back. Those who make no mistakes have already arrived. I simplydon't know what mistakes anyone needs to make. Therefore, I am in no position tobe "helpful."

28True helpfulness comes from connection, not from words.

Words alone don't help. It is what God speaks in our hearts when we read or hearwords that helps. That's why familiar passages from sacred scripture often meansomething new each time we reread them. And that's why it never works for me todecide what someone else needs to hear. If I want to be of use today, I mustfocus on my feeling of connection with others, because God is hear d within theexperience of love.

29Trusting a greater Reality makes relationships easier.

When I judge others, I question the innocence God has placed within them. Seeingmy mistake, I must immediately put them back in God's hands. Today I willacknowledge that I really don't know how hard people try, how far they may havecome, or in what ways God is transforming them this very instant. Comparing isthe opposite of r elating. Going Home is not a foot race in which I compete. Toconclude that I am ahead or behind another, I must first break with the peace ofOneness.

30Only love can discern the bridge that stretches between two hearts. In love itis seen, and in love it is crossed.

What another person does has no fixed meaning. I interpret behavior as I choose.What do I want it to mean? I perceive others through either my moods or mypeace. Stillness sees oneness; moods see chaos. Don't fight thoughts; change thesource. Since I am responsible for which part of my mind I use, today I willkeep returning to my quiet mind.

31Dare to be ordinary.

God is One. I experience God by experiencing equality: the sameness in anotherperson and the divinity in all living things. Today I will dare to turn my backon the world's shrill urgings that we should each strive to be the best.Instead, I will embrace my ordinariness. I will be normal and equal. I will haveno "spiritual" posture, tell no ego-enhancing "spiritual" stories, think noseparating "spiritual" thoughts. I did not create myself, and today I will relaxinto who I already am.

32God knows the way to my heart.

God is not nearer just because we think about God. God could not be nearer.God's strength is our strength. God's life is our life. God's happiness is ourhappiness. We are each made out of God. Even now, God breathes into us ourpurpose, our motivation, and our fulfillment.

33Discouragement is not helpful.

Discouragement is love of the ego because it turns to the ego for its sense ofreality. Spirit will not and cannot confirm "low spirits." Discouragement isnever necessary. And it isn't much fun. But the answer is not to fight it. If Ifight it, I make myself a victim of my own mind, which is impossible. When I amdiscouraged, no matter how slight the feeling, I will be still a moment and findthe place in me where I am whole. I will let my mind fall gently back intoplace. Then, I will start over by doing just one thing without discouragement.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Morning Notes by HUGH PRATHER. Copyright © 2005 Hugh Prather. Excerpted by permission of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: Conari Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1573242543
• ISBN 13: 9781573242547
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 378