Paul shared a post about spending 30 minutes in the morning watching the wildlife and the sunrise. He described it as, “quite, cool, peaceful, orange … perfect.” “Perfect” always gets to me. It caused me to remember my early mornings of the past years. After showering and dressing I would spend most mornings reading the “news”. I started my day by filling my head with news about war, local and world crimes, political bull crap. On some pages I could see images of the next car they wanted me to in debt for, or see the competitive prices of potatoes and carrots between the local grocery stores. Then one morning it dawned on me reading the “news” was not the way I needed to start my day. So, I stopped reading the “news”, or watching it, over 20 years ago. And, I don’t miss it.

This past Monday morning one of the regular customers walked in to the coffee shop and wanted to know if we all new the latest news. Seems we had a rowdy weekend in town. Without asking, he passed on his latest “news”. A riot broke out at a large party on a cul-de-sac near campus. Luckily no one was injured. The next “news” he shared was about a shooting where a police officer was shot and wounded and the suspect was killed. This is not how I wanted to start the morning. The news he so desperately wanted to share was bad news and not good news? It seems like 1 in 20 stories in the paper are about good things.

I prefer to spend my mornings in a quiet and contemplative place. I have sacred place in my home where I sit and watch the sun rise. I quietly sip on my personally made latte. I read, journal and enjoy my time. Or, I can find a secluded place outside of town and watch the sunrise. I can listen to the sounds of nature rather than the trash truck. I can feel the coolness or warmth of the air and allow it all to penetrate my soul. With each of these, I feel I’m filling my mind and soul with better images to start the day