Listening In The Morning

May, 2013

I began this blog because I see over and over how we choose not to listen. Not to others, and even worse not to ourselves. We miss so much because our minds are focused on something or someone else, and we miss the best part of what we can have or what we can be. Here is a simple practice to begin with. It’s actually a way to begin your day.

When you awaken in the morning, don’t open your eyes immediately. In fact don’t move. Just be still. As you move from the sleep state to consciousness pay attention to what comes to you. Listen for the small voice that comes. It will whisper something you need to know, something you need to do. You may hear the words of a song that fits a situation you’re in. What you need to hear will come to you. Just lie there and listen.

Have a notepad handy. As you begin to become sensitive to what you’re tapping into, you may want to jot what’s coming to you on paper. But don’t jostle around too much in the bed. You don’t want to disconnect from the flow that’s coming your way. Learn to move your arm slowly to your nightstand to get what you need. The next trick is to learn to write in the dark. This takes a bit of practice. Pencil works well here. Don’t turn on the light. You can clean up the writing later. Just be still, breathe easily and listen.

Last April, after 4 days of some extremely stressful situations kept coming non-stop I reached my tipping point. After I finished my rant I stopped and thought about how many extremely stressful situations had come my way each week during April and March. I had not paid attention to them collectively, just taking them one at a time. When I mentioned this to my sister she reminded me of some more things from February. That was enough to make me pause. I started logging them for the weeks and months leading up to that moment and saw an unreasonable amount of stressors. For the next two weeks I counted even more.

Then I decided to shift my thinking. Rather than focus on how I was under attack, I decided to see what God was doing. And I spoke it. “Okay God. I need to see something here.” Because there had been soooo many events I was really looking for some neon signs flashing, but of course that wasn’t going to happen. It’s never amid the noise that we hear a whisper. It’s in the quiet moments. Mine come in the early morning. Almost every morning since last April I’ve heard the words to a song that encouraged me to keep going with my book project. You see, it’s right after I committed to writing my book that the attacks began. I hadn’t noticed until that dreadful week in April how fierce things had gotten.

Since then I have gotten amazing messages in the waking moments. When I’ve not been clear on something, clarity comes. When I’ve stalled in my writing, the next few sections, or even a chapter are revealed. When I was losing energy during a tremendously long process, I’ve gotten reassurance to take heart and stay the course. And everything that comes has a positive end. All I have to do is flow with the spirit that’s whispering. Allow yourself a few minutes in the morning before you get up. Hear what comes to you. Listen. The Spirit that’s always there will speak to you.

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