When You Arise

“When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and surly. They are like this because they can’t tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own – not of the same blood and birth, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine. And so none of them can hurt me. No one can implicate me in ugliness. Nor can I feel angry at my relative, or hate him. We were born to work together like feet, hands and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back on him: these are unnatural.” -Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“Today I will be master of my emotions. The tides advance, the tides recede. Winter goes and summer comes. Summer wanes and the cold increases. The sun rises; the sun sets. The moon is full; the moon is black. The birds arrive; the birds depart. Flowers bloom; flowers fade. Seeds are sown; harvests are reaped. All nature is a circle of moods and I am a part of nature and so, like the tides, my moods will rise; my moods will fall. Today I will be master of my emotions…I will also understand and recognize the moods of him on whom I call. I will make allowances for his anger and irritation of today for he knows not the secret of controlling his mind. I can withstand his arrows and insults for now I know that tomorrow he will change and be a joy to approach.” -Og Mandino, The Greatest Salesman In The World

“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, Meditations

“Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.” -Maya Angelou, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

“The Sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on.” -Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop

“Every time you find yourself irritated or angry with someone, the one to look at is not that person but yourself. The question to ask is not ‘What’s wrong with this person?’ but ‘What does this irritation tell me about myself?’ Do this right now. Think of some irritating person and you know and say this painful but liberating sentence to yourself. ‘The cause of my irritation is not in this person but me.’ -Anthony De Mello, The Way To Love

“You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.”  -Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

So that you have a puncher’s chance of a good day…when you arise every morning, remind yourself of the following:

One. No one person or thing can make you happy. Only you can make you happy. Get rid of your attachments.

Two. The reason you train, you meditate, you study philosophy, etc…is to be prepared to deal with all people (especially those who haven’t trained) and all circumstances. Not to control them. But to flow with them.

Three. Be grateful. You’re breathing. You’re alive!