“Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields…Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.” ~ Mary Oliver
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. ~ Marcus Aurelius
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. ~ Marcus Aurelius
Sylvia Plath
Love set you going like a fat gold watch.
The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry
Took its place among the elements.
Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue.
In a drafty museum, your nakedness
Shadows our safety. We stand round blankly as walls.
I’m no more your mother
Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow
Effacement at the wind’s hand.
All night your moth-breath
Flickers among the flat pink roses. I wake to listen:
A far sea moves in my ear.
One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral
In my Victorian nightgown.
Your mouth opens clean as a cat’s. The window square
Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try
Your handful of notes;
The clear vowels rise like balloons.
Ethel Clifford
I WOULD give thanks to God for morning time;
Of all the happy day of hours God-given,
It is the prime
Best lifts my heart to heaven.
Before day comes into the valley here
I dream of those who live beyond the hill,
And wonder if the silent-footed dawn
Into their lives is bringing good or ill.
The waiting earth is like a chidden child
That, wistful, looks if pardon may be there;
When, suddenly, the sun is on the hill,
God smiles, and it is morning everywhere.
And when the morn comes in with falling rain,
Yet is it still the time of all most dear—
It is the angels round about God’s throne
That weep glad tears, because they are so near.
O holy virgin! clad in purest white,
Unlock heav’n’s golden gates, and issue forth;
Awake the dawn that sleeps in heaven; let light
Rise from the chambers of the east, and bring
The honey’d dew that cometh on waking day.
O radiant morning, salute the sun
Rous’d like a huntsman to the chase, and with
Thy buskin’d feet appear upon our hills.
The Google AI generated a series of suggestions. Here they are:
Other healthy things you can do first thing in the morning include:
“In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.”
Sun yourself in the morning. Sunshine helps wake you up, nourishes your body, and improves your mood. While too much sun can damage your skin, too little sun can cause vitamin deficiency and illness. Put on some sunscreen if you are a fair-skinned and head outside in the morning.[1]
NOTE: We easily fall into habits. Most of our habits help us to navigate the day. Our habits, however, can get us stuck in a rut. Think about how you start your day. Same old, same old, right? What if you got up 15 minutes earlier and went for a brisk walk? The slight change in a habitual routine may make your day a great one.
