“And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.””… the second day” “… the third day… “”. the fourth day…”.. the fifth day…”
Genesis 1:5, 8,10,13,19,23
Every coach and every mentor I have had, has always stressed the importance of starting my day well. Many even refer to the life of Jesus and say that Jesus got up early, before it was light, and went off to pray. This is where He talked to God. This is where he checked in and refocused on why he was on the planet.
They are right – all these people agree that the rituals that begin your day mark your life. I agree too!
What about how you end your day? Could this have anything to do with a successful life? I believe it does.
If you end your day by watching the news with stories of murder, crime and war, there will be a portion of your brain that will continue to think of these things throughout the night. Or if you end your day with beer, the body needs to detox it overnight. How can anyone have a truly restful, healing-nights sleep with this playing subconsciously through your thoughts? You can’t! No matter how hard you try — the imprint has been made and the brain will continue to process this horrible stuff.
I’ve shared this concept with a few people and most deny that letting this toxic stuff enter their brain would affect them. But it does. It’s not only that – we listen to this stuff in the car, at work and over lunch. It’s everywhere. I would much rather miss out on some current events than let my mind be filled with this joy-robbing junk.
How you end the day sets you up for how you begin the next. If you have a toxic night’s rest you will not awaken refreshed and ready for the day ahead. So how could you ever get up, before it is light, and talk with God? Get focused, read an encouraging book? You can’t. If I don’t start my day right, then for the rest of my day I’m looking to fill some hole in my heart and it usually is toxic: Toxic food, toxic conversation (negative talk) or toxic news. If you want current events, read the paper, at least you can throw out the junk, and do it before noon so you’ll have plenty of time to fill your mind with positive thoughts before bed.
Read positive books in the living room, not in bed, bed is for sleeping!
Lights off at 10 pm, and have 6-8 hours of sleep, with time you will get up by 6 am being fully rested and ready to go. If you haven’t been doing this, it will take a couple of years to create a good sleeping routine, and with time, there will be lots of healing done because of it.
The success of your GOOD-GOD morning start is completely dependent on your bedtime rituals. So pick up that encouraging book again, offer a prayer before sleep, meditate on scripture. Whatever you do, make it positive. Health comes from your internal discipline!
Blessings,
