I was listening to YouTube this morning and a question was posed by the Hindu teacher on what were the three most important things to do in the morning. He answered his own question. The first was to check to see if you were alive. Then to check and see if your loved ones were also alive. He stated that one million people would not breathe another breath from the night before and to be alive was indeed miraculous enough. The third was to ask yourself “if my life is so fragile as it could be over from one night to the next, what would be the most important things about this precious day of being alive?”
Buddhism teaches that it is good to meditate on our death so that we can more fully appreciate our life. To be alive is not simply to inhabit a body that is functioning, it is to be alive in our minds, hearts, and spirits. To be present to life. To be alive is meant to be a full experience of all our senses, our intellect, our heart, and our spirits ability to connect with Life itself.
So here is my short list of five things to do in the morning and throughout the day to connect with the full experience of being alive.
- Breathe… slowly and deeply… Inhale (pause) Exhale (pause) and repeat (it doesn’t hurt to do some stretches or yoga poses to really get your breath into all parts of your body and spirit)
- Gratitude for this day, your life and everyone else alive
- Experience being in love with Life. Love smelling, feeling, tasting, touching, seeing, hearing, being
- Release the negative & feed the positive
- Ask yourself what is the most important things to focus on today (this could be an attitude, intention or action) then follow through. Develop the mantra “As I will, so may I act”.