Welcome to DAY 2 of our practice. Let’s begin…

Quote over a sunset above the clouds.

Please close your eyes while you take three slow, deep breaths. Then open your eyes and consider the invitation to: “Look Around You. Look Inside Yourself.

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of busy, modern life, it can require effort and commitment to truly notice and stay awake to the people, events, and moments in our lives. With numerous demands on our attention, it is easy to miss the wisdom of our hearts and bodies, the richness of leaning into what’s here NOW, and the opportunities and unexpected gifts that can exist within difficult or challenging situations. In short, whenever we are not alert to what’s happening in and around us, we miss the opportunity to live our lives to the fullest and to offer our best selves to the world.

Henry David Thoreau bids us to “keep ourselves awake” with “an infinite expectation of the dawn.” What a powerful and evocative invitation! In the spirit of alert aliveness, today we encourage you to:

  • Set an intention to look around you. Look inside yourself. Notice how simply setting this intention impacts you.
  • In all your interactions, give your full attention to the person with whom you are communicating. Notice how this impacts the exchange.
  • When going for a walk or traveling in your car, tune in to your surroundings. To help ground yourself in your body, notice the feel of your feet on the ground or your hands on the steering wheel.
  • What arises for you when you consider the quote from Thoreau that accompanies today’s practice? How might you “reawaken” and keep yourself awake?
  • At day’s end, reflect upon what you noticed today and explore how it feels and what might have changed as a result of following your intention to look around you. Look inside yourself.
  • Write about your experiences in a journal and/or share below.

Deepening Resources

If you would like to explore this topic further, you might appreciate:

 

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Enjoy the full eight-day A Grateful Day | A Grateful Year practice.


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