Running this morning was tormenting, for fear I was so frustrated that I wouldn’t connect
to a song in my morning workout. I was livid about some family problems and feared the anger would consume me, causing me to completely miss out on the benefits of the workout entirely. But that’s what the workout is for, remember? Imagine if I didn’t work out this morning with that kind of anger and frustration built up inside? I realized that this is the hardest part about trusting the routine, facing our doubts. Which brings to mind one of the central, early struggles with implementing a new routine: wanting to control every aspect of its progress. We begin to question if our process is already working or if it will work and when it will start working? We immediately want to give up and try something new for fear we are already not getting what we wanted out of it.
We start to beg for signs or data that could somehow prove we are on the right track, that it is helping our daily lives. Sound familiar? Yes. Sounds exactly like the process of life. Sounds like when we doubt our motives or decisions in life and we begin to feel lost, as if we don’t even know ourselves anymore. When this kind of negativity takes over it could get the best of you, but then, “as if by magic” the routine sparks a tiny sliver of hope in you. Maybe the right song comes on during your workout – the one that lures you into the realm of trust, hope, faith, and belief. Just when you thought Daily Bloomified wasn’t going to work? Or maybe it isn’t the song that wins you over. For me this morning it was, but sometimes it’s just the peace that comes over me after morning cardio, or the fact that I am able to notice the little things again, like an uplifting breeze shaking the trees’ leaves as if trying to tell me to “hold on and just enjoy.” This topic of struggle and doubt suits today as I would like to stress the importance of Step 2 in Daily Bloomified: Prayer/Meditation.
Prayer and meditation is the doubt crusher.
Morning cardio sparks in us the motivating energy to continue the routine every morning, but what keeps us in it for the long haul? Prayer and meditation. Prayer and meditation is the platform for taking what we’ve brought to the surface during our morning workout and drawing out solidified truths of comfort, and trust. Through prayer and meditation we are able to find the words, the answers, and the affirmation to articulate these findings in our morning routine. The comfort we get from these answers then translates into HOPE. And hope is what inevitably makes us more open to the possibilities of life. Remember, hope eliminates fear and breaks down boundaries of false truths from our upbringing or past experiences. Hope is everything we need from this entire process of Daily Bloomified, thus positively affecting every part of our decision making, career choices, passions, and direction in life.
When we are hurt, struggling, or filled up with negativity it is hard to hold steady with our routine. But just like how we put faith in ourselves, in God, in a higher being or belief, we learn to LET GO and allow the hard work to pay off. You are already doing the work by starting this routine, so let it do its part and give back to you what you are asking for. Let it show you the answers you are seeking. It’s like when you put 100% into applying to a bunch of different jobs and just when you think no one is going to call back, 4 or 5 call you a couple weeks later asking if you can come in for an interview. Your simple choice and submission to do the work to better your way of living and thinking will play out in a positive way, if you just let it. Don’t try to control it, instead, TRUST it.
By praying and meditating consistently every single day for 30 minutes we become more patient with life’s results; we are teaching ourselves to stop forcing out the results we want in the time that we want them. By practicing the skill of praying and meditating every day, you learn how to see into your life, understand it, and guide it out of love instead of anxious fear. That’s why it always feels good when we do pray or meditate. That sense of peace is just YOU letting go of all the lies or misconceived notions about life. It’s as if we get a chance to look at our own life from an aerial view and finally see how beautiful it is. It’s not messy or confusing or painful and monotonous like we thought it was. It’s not hopeless, stuck in a rut, or passionless, like we keep telling ourselves. Instead it’s full of the answers we are looking for. Full of knowledge and honest signs of how to enjoy it if we’d like to. But it’s true, we must learn to let go in order to see all of these happy and hopeful answers. Prayer and meditation bring these answers to life, FOR YOU.
Step 3 is the writing and reflection portion. Tomorrow we will go more into how after basking in the comfort of the benefits of prayer and mediation, we are able to understand the answers we have received. Through understanding, we find peace which most of the time sparks new ideas, creativity, courage, and the will to take action in our lives.