Morning Hush

Going through the day with peace of mind does not mean complete control of things and smooth day; but living through the day with calmness despite uncontrollable situation, with joy from within, and by respecting the events, people, and things around you.

The sun is rising. The alarm clock is ringing. The sound of the city is gradually fading in.

Take time to be SILENT. LISTEN to your body, to the small voice in your head.

When morning comes, we tend to rush on everything. Immediately after opening our eyes, we jump off our bed and zoom our way to the bathroom. We miss to enjoy the beauty of the new day—the comfort of the soft and fluffy bed, the aromatic smell of the coffee, the natural disinfectant of the sunlight, and the fresh thoughts. We want everything in instant.

We rush thinking we could avoid the things we cannot control that could ruin our entire day. There's the traffic, car malfunction, or the silent demanding boss who expects us to be earlier than her 6:30 am lonely time.

It's good and right to start the day early. It gives us ample time to prepare for the day. Remember: failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

However, waking up earlier than the rooster and moving like Flash is not enough.

Wake up rushing results in starting out feeling stressed out early in the day, with a fazed mind and your heart beating fast, that puts you on auto-panic mode. When we rush, we tend to forget something or to push the wrong button or to pour our coffee on the office desk. We commit small errors that have some negative impacts on our mood and productivity level.

Our state of mind when we start our day is important. It is the key to setting the landscape of our day.

Waking up with a serene state of mind, composed mind, and clear vision of the day help us get through the bumps and hurdles of the day gracefully and productively.

Slash the morning rush and start with a morning hush.

Wake up 15 minutes earlier than necessary. Stay lying on your bed, meditate or pray or just simply put things in perspective til the 15 minutes run out.

Smile. Sit on your bed for 5 seconds, still holding your smile. Play feel-good music, then start doing your thing. Whether it is having coffee or breakfast first or taking a bath first, make sure you spend the time pumping happy hormones.

While sitting at the dining table, talk to your loving partner or crack joke with your housemates or share a good story with your kids.

In the bathroom, make mental notes of your today's plans or small goals, or revisit your best feeling yesterday, or shake off all the negative emotions of yesterday and , then start with a clean slate, or just simply think of your dream house.

The quality of your first 15 minutes in the morning is essential in creating the vibe of your day. Then follow it through by living out a positive and driven disposition.

• Wake up early.
• Meditate and set your good mood.
• Have a good breakfast.
• Arrive at work ahead of time.
• Clean your work area and prepare by gathering your thoughts.
• Greet your colleagues good morning or give small positive notes.
• Check your to-do’s and emails.
• Take a deep breath and smile.

Give yourself time to settle after waking up. Listening to the small voice within you or connecting with your Supreme Being early in the morning puts things in perspective. Calibrate your senses by feeling, smelling, hearing, seeing, and tasting the beauty of the new day.

When you go through the day deliberately, you become aware and alert—you see the minute details of the day.

Going through the day with peace of mind does not mean complete control of things and smooth day; but living through the day with calmness despite uncontrollable situation, with joy from within, and by respecting the events, people, and things around you.

Relax. Start early with a me-time contemplating or meditating or praying.

Relieve yourself of self-made anxiety.
You have a choice—to be happy or to be unhappy: to rush or to slow down.

Time gives us the advantage of having "options".
Don't just start early.
Start early with a grateful heart, clear mind, and peaceful state of mind.

Helter-skelter courts disaster; while man of meditation attracts fruition.

Make your 15-minute morning hush a habit and your day will be better than your day with morning rush.

When Smiling Does a Lot and Silence Says More

"...we shouldn't be angry at the people who use, curse, ridicule, or betray us. Instead, we must pray for them because they might be undergoing something we don't know. They might be deeply wounded or confused or lost."


Many of us are familiar with the itching provocative feeling when a friend or a relative uses us for his/her advantage. I myself have my own fair share of such stories.

I am naturally an expressive and frank person. But there are just those moments when I simply choose to just smile and be silent no matter how hurtful or provoking the circumstance is.

I believe it is God working inside me. It isn't my normal response then--either I talk with the person in private or I would be indifferent because of pride.

I have been betrayed by a close friend when we were in high school. She used my name for her to get what she wanted and even tried to stain my reputation by giving statements that she said was from me. I was totally clueless. Good thing, another friend who knows me so well thought that she was so sure I couldn't be involved in that situation and told me about it. Another instance was when another close friend used my name to cover up her situation. She looks naive and sweet, nobody would ever think that it was really her who did such thing--and with my outgoing, outspoken, extrovert personality, everybody would think it was me who's the suspect.

The particular things they did to me were so provoking that I wanted to confront them flat to their faces. But I opted not to. I didn't know what was going on inside me that I preferred not to defend myself; rather, I chose to just smile, just be silent, and pray for prudence and peace that I urgently need.

Time passed. Now I realized situations of same the nature—provoking, tormenting, hurting, and saddening—happen in our lives so we may appreciate even more the support of our families, who as sure as the sun will rise will emerge and console us; know our true friends; receive the grace of self-discipline; and obtain emotional maturity and strength in character in the midst of torrents of feelings running through our veins.

I learned tonight from a Bible reflection that we shouldn't be angry at the people who use, curse, ridicule, or betray us. Instead, we must pray for them because they might be undergoing something we don't know. They might be deeply wounded or confused or lost.

If we truly want to see ourselves as people who are living upright lives (that we even assess our projected integrity), then we must start from within and take the upward steps of forgiveness and understanding to make it real and meaningful.

Whenever people put you down or pick holes in you, just smile. Forgive even if you don't understand why. In your quiet moment, understanding from heaven will descend upon you. Then, your silence will radiate the peace that you hold and will speak to the heart of the one who hurt you in ways you cannot imagine, because God will work it out for you if you just surrender the situation to Him.

PS:

As King David said in 1 Sammuel 16: 11-12 , "Leave him alone; let him curse for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today."

In Psalm 3:3-5 David says, "You are a shield around me, O Lord; You bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the Lord I cry aloud, and he answers me from His holy hill. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me."

In Psalm 4:4 David says, "In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds search your hearts and be silent."

The ‘Hiling’ Ministry

Temple, church, house of God… whatever our religious affiliations are, many of us see the Supreme Being’s abode as a place for two confused things: ‘healing’ and ‘hiling’.

Whenever exam season comes, we visit His place to ask for knowledge and good memory. During financial crises, we go to His house, no matter what time of the day, to beg for sources of income. If we need to restore balance in our lives, we long to feel the serenity of His house so we can ask for His guidance. When we think we already see the love of our lives, we go to church to ask for signs from Him to validate our feelings or instructions on how to get close to our object of admiration.

We don’t run out of things to ask for… well, that’s good! It’s better to come before our Supreme Being and ask for His grace and guidance rather than just relying on our own understanding and strength.

Besides, it is said (for Christians), “Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened.” Yes! The promise that we will be blessed.

Me, whenever I go to the church for sure I am asking my God for something—good health, peace of mind, discipline, discernment, strength, among other things that almost everybody wishes for.

The thing is, many of us when we go to our churches, temples, house of God, or however you may call it, we always go there ‘asking’ for our hearts’ desires then leave thereafter.

Many of us see these infrastructures as places for wishes. And when we don’t get our wishes after arduous asking, we get mad and blame Him.

We sometimes tend to overlook the meaning of what He said, “Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened.” By this, He wants us to ‘ask, seek, and knock’. Meaning, He wants us to do our part, with our best probably, and he will do the rest for us.

Sometimes, we are even asking for things contrary to His plans for us. Thus, when our hearts become persistent to what they want and we grant our wishes with self-made answers (we go ahead of God’s answers); all the more He also becomes persistent in pursuing His plans for us and keep us back on the right course… to complete the best plan of all, in accordance to his glorious riches and best timeframe.

There are also times when He already answered our prayers, but we just don’t notice them because we are so focused on something else—on what we want.

In times of waiting or blindedness, we don't even tell Him, "God, I already labored with everything and did my best. I have hit blank walls. Whatever you want me to do, reveal it to me and I will follow." Faith. Yes, faith! Asking to increase our faith.

Moreover, there are also times when He wants us to wait and persevere so we can learn and grow from our circumstances first as He prepares us for our premium blessings.

When we feel tired from praying and waiting, we blame Him, we go away forgetting that He loves us and all He wants for us is the best, and only the best.

On the other hand, in pleasant times when our wishes have been granted and when our pains or difficulties ebb already, our gratefulness to him simultaneously recedes… then proceed to another ‘hiling’.

We focus more on our own wants, desires, and needs that we already forget the other equally important actions we must offer Him whenever we visit his abode or even just while spending exclusive time with Him somewhere else.

When we intentionally visit His house, we immediately proceed to ‘supplication’ or ‘hiling’, skipping offering Him praises (adoration), asking for forgiveness (contrition), expressing our gratitude (thanksgiving), and sometimes, allotting quiet time to listen to Him.

We are so active on asking and asking and asking… and we can stay awake on our knees until dawn just to ask. But we don’t get shy come thanksgiving time. We just thank Him in two minutes—dashing like in the last two minutes of a hoops playoff.

Now, as we already mastered the ministry of ‘hiling’, we can now start learning and mastering (with just the same zeal) adoration, repentance, thanksgiving, and listening to Him. And perhaps, we are now ready to explore other ministries so we can better serve Him as we become His instruments in blessing others and as we become blessed through others.