Daily Rituals

What does your typical day look like?
Do your daily routines reflect what you claim to value, what you believe?
Do you live your faith intentionally each day?

These were some thought provoking questions offered by Sister Platt at a fantastic class that I attended while at Education Week.  This instructor had a personal list of twenty rituals that were important enough to her that she tried to fit them into each day.  These rituals were really just "good habits" that she had initiated to help her stay focused on her values.  They helped her to live intentionally.  As I've thought about this class and tried to glean from her ideas, I realize that we all have "habits" that we engage in each day, some good, some maybe, not so good.  But most of us are creatures of habit and if we think about it, we would realize that there are some things that we do day after day.  And it's the things we do day in and day out that add up to who we are.  If our habits are congruent with our beliefs, then we experience greater peace and clarity in our lives.  When our habits don't line up with what we know to be true, then we struggle with frustration, stress and guilt.

Since my year of fifty, when I set all those goals and worked steadily to achieve them, I find that I am happiest when I am living intentionally.  I once heard someone ask, "What is it that gets you out of the bed in the mornings?  Is it an alarm or a mission?" I like being excited about a mission for the day.   I know that I'm not completely in control of my life, who is?  But waking up each day with some kind of plan on how to spend my time, helps me to feel like I have a little control.  Slowly and surely, I can accomplish the things that are most important to me if I've had the forethought to prepare and plan a time to make them happen.  The trick to all this is learning to be flexible and not being chained to your agenda.  I'm certain there are days when the Lord's plan looks different from mine and I want to be able to switch gears as needed.  As I pray about my plans in the morning and seek his will for my day, I hope I can respond to promptings that would help me to be an instrument in his hands.  It's a lofty goal to be sure, but it's what's expected of disciples of Christ.

As I sat in this class and heard Sister Platt share her daily rituals, I realized that I had some  myself.  I hadn't called them by that name, but they were things I did each day that helped keep me on the right track.  And many of them were symbolic of deep commitments that I've made to live out my faith each day.  As I've formulated and put on paper my Daily Rituals, I've kept my list to ten things I consider important enough to deserve my attention and effort.  Being a list lover, I could have kept going and thought of more, but ten's a good number.   Here's my Daily Rituals with a brief explanation as to why they made the list.

*Stretch and pray.  As I roll out of the bed each morning, I have a little stretching routine that I do to wake things up (and to get the blood flowing so some parts hurt a little less ).   One thing I've learned as I've aged is how to make the most of my movements.  I never gave a thought to all the bending I did when I was 30, but let me tell you, I notice those things now and I try to protect my back as much as possible.  So since I'm already down on the floor, I kneel and say my morning prayers.  

*Quiet time for reading scriptures, studying and journaling.  This is the most precious part of my day and I feel out of rhythm when it doesn't happen.  It's my belief that if I want to put God first in my life, then I show him that by putting him first in my day.  This discipline has varied over the years.  When I had children at home and had to get everyone ready for school, this time was abbreviated, but I still tried to make it happen.  Now I allow myself an hour and there are days when I yearn for even more.  I've learned that nothing can take the place of spending time in God's presence.  As Elizabeth George (a Christian author) states in her book , A Woman After God's Own Heart, "time spent sitting at His feet fuels and focuses all acts of service.  We want our strength in public to be explained by what goes on in private between us and God.  I call this time with God the 'great exchange'.  Away from the world and hidden from public view, I exchange my weariness for his strength, my weakness for His power, my darkness for His light, my problems for His solutions, my burdens for His freedom, my frustrations for His peace, my turmoil for His calm, my hope for His promises, my afflictions for His balm of comfort, my questions for His answers..."  Isn't that beautiful?  That's exactly how I feel and  this ritual protects me from becoming so busy doing things for the Lord that I fail to spend time with the Lord.  I've been there before and I don't want to go back.  It leaves you dried up and burned out.

*Exercise.   I try to exercise some each day.   For me it's a health issue.  As a diabetic it's as important as taking my medication and I try not to allow myself time to think about not doing it.  Which means I am more successful if I do it in the morning, because you wouldn't believe all the excuses I can come up with as the day moves on.  

*Be outdoors.  It's good for my spirit to be outdoors each day and breathe in fresh air.  I'm a bit of a homebody and could be content piddling away at things inside.  This ritual gives me a break and usually goes nicely with my exercise goal as I walk on my mountain road.  

*Make bed, wash dishes, sweep floors and tidy.   These are my daily housekeeping chores and no matter what kind of day I have, I try to see that this much is done around the house.  Sometimes I have weeks when this is all that gets done, but on the surface there's order and that's as good as it gets.

*Drink water and cook dinner.  Have you tried a Hydro flask water bottle? They are amazing.  Fill it with cold water and it stays cold.  I mean like straight out of the refrigerator cold!   I keep them filled up and drink all day.  I try to cook dinner almost every night, because it's less expensive than eating out and theoretically it's healthier.  Unless your making Fettucine Alfredo with cream and lots of cheese!  But I don't make rich food like that every night, in fact we eat meatless two or three nights a week and try to eat local, even" grown by me" food, when possible.  I value a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables and unprocessed foods.  I like to know what's in my food and where it came from.  Eating in restaurants limits your ability to have that connection with your dinner.  Now don't get me wrong, we eat out sometimes.  Just today I had a Chick-fil-a sandwich and waffle fries!!!  So I'm not a purist by any means.  

* Say my covenants.   As I get dressed in the mornings and when I say my morning prayers I remind myself of my baptismal and temple covenants.  I do this for the obvious reason that I'm serious about my faith and when I start the day reminding myself of the promises I've made it helps to guide my conversations and actions.  It helps me to keep my focus on Christ.   The day will get busy and I'll get distracted and may not always remember Him as I would like to, but at least I've started off in the right direction.

* Pray with my husband.  I don't like it when we're running behind in the mornings and Mark leaves for work without saying prayers with me.  That doesn't happen too often, but when it does I feel distanced from him throughout the day.  We both need the protection that comes from petitioning Heavenly Father before we head out in the "world".   Our marriage needs the protection.

* Read and write.  I try to write something each day-like blogging, journaling, thoughts on things I'm studying or reading, letters, etc.  I'm not a great writer, but I'm hoping to improve with practice.  Reading doesn't even take effort, it just happens.  I can't not read.  It's my obsession.  This year I'm reading children's classics and I've joined a Great Books Discussion Group at the local college.  I'm loving both of these pursuits.  So many books, so little time.  Reading and writing helps me learn something new each day.

* Try to be present and search for beauty.  "Wherever you are, be all there."  This takes work for type A's who can multi task like no other.  But I understand the value in being fully present with people and with activities.  I'm trying.  I'm also on a quest to find beauty in the every day, simple things in life.  This is also taking some retraining, but having my gratitude journal open on my desk is a reminder to look for blessings and beauty.  

"Blessed are they who see the beautiful things

in humble places where other people see nothing."

Camille Pissarro

These are my daily rituals and when I at least, attempt to do them, life is better.  How about you?  What are the things that you do each day that keep you centered?