morning mantras

The clock sounds at 6:15 AM...the infrared blinking brightly into my vision.  The harsh tone of my alarm is unforgiving, and the only thing in my life that is never running late.  I splash water in my face and throw on track shorts and a T-shirt.  I've done well if I've laid these things out the night before.  Otherwise, I stare at my dresser for a solid 3 minutes before my brain connects to my hands to tell them where my clothes are.  I lace up my shoes, throw my hair blindly into a messy ponytail and I am out the door.  By now, it's 6:30.  The soft, natural light of the new morning makes everything right.  There is a a pink sun in the sky spreading warmth into the night's dark blue that coaxes my sleepy eyes to attention.  There is a song floating above the trees, a symphony of bird calls and cicada rhythms falls softly on my ears.  My once-aching legs quickly fall into step.  As the sun climbs higher to its perch overhead, my heart lifts upward.  I look forward to the sight of my neighbor who will be out walking her three dogs and the gentle roar of the springs feeding the river as I descend down the hill.  Any notion that I am the only one sweating it out this early disappears as the park is already full of cyclists, joggers, swimmers, and walkers that have all gathered here for the same purpose.  We are all singing the same morning song.  We are celebrating that mysterious wonder of these early hours when all seems possible.  The day is open to a thousand destinations.  We have put yesterday's hurts behind us to embrace a refreshed heart and a renewed spirit.  With every stride, every stroke, every leap forward on the path, we are shouting in unison that Yes! Today, we will be different.  We will listen more.  We will love better.  We will raise our voices in song instead of anger.  We will lose ourselves in true Beauty instead of vanity.  We will read the books waiting on our shelves, plan the trips postponed for several years and call the old friends whose familiar hellos can soothe our souls.  This evening, with our televisions turned off, we will eat our suppers to the sound of stories from our family.  And yes, we might leave our dishes in the sink.  We might realize an errand we've forgotten to run.  We might not avoid every annoyance, every pain, every wound that the world can inflict.  But as the moon hangs in the nighttime sky, long after we have returned from the path that brings us together this morning in the park, we will rest in the knowing that yes! Today, we were different.