Some mornings it takes a good bit of effort to get up. We have been battling colds in our house this past month and feeling under the weather can really drag you down, making getting out of bed an unappealing chore. Add to that the persistent cold weather and the knowledge that I need to go outside fairly soon and "shining" upon rising becomes a real challenge. Yet... when I do rise I am greatly empowered by the knowledge that I have a choice. Rather than let the day sweep me along with the currents of how I feel I can choose to "shine".
I am not a naturally "shiny" person, my husband can attest to that, rather my nature is more "prickly", "oppositional" or perhaps "abrasive" But "Rise and Oppose" is not the best posture to approach the day, since I am guaranteed to find trouble when I am looking for resistance.
C.S. Lewis has a great quote in Mere Christianity about how to orient at the beginning of our day, “It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind.”
We'll continue to consider the "how" of this over the next several posts. So come in "out of the wind", Rise and SHINE!