FLY TODAY[1]:

First Love Yourself

Then love Others as Dearly As you love Yourself (adapted from www.flylady.net )

LAUREL WREATH FAMILIES (Let’s Be One):

Listen to each other

Accept one another

Use positive language (what’s right not wrong)

Respect boundaries

Endure as a family

Love each other (adapted from self-esteem article on www.cyberparent.com )

BEFORE YOU DO ANY WORK TODAY:

Stretch OUT: Before you get out of bed (5 minutes)

            Slowly stretch your arms above your head and make angel wings.

            Laying on your back- push up with your legs to stretch out your back-walk back down.

            Point each toe toward the ceiling and make circles in the air

            Pull your knees up to your chin and hold

            Holding your hands together, move your arms to each side

            Rolling onto each side, stretch your legs front and back

Laying on your back (head on the pillow) roll your head from shoulder to shoulder.

Now jump out of bed- no hesitation- no pain. (adapted from Beverly Sassoon’s, A Year ot Beauty and Health).

The rest of these do in any order:

Breathe IN:60 Seconds to Fuel your whole day (1 minute)

Stand straight and tall.

Breathe in for 3 seconds, then breathe out for 3 seconds.

Repeat the breathing 10 times. (thanks to Linda Wilson Beavers- an excellent massage therapist, a great SAS programmer and even better friend)

Fuel UP: Eat a nutritious breakfast (grain, protein, fruit).  Drink 8 ounces of liquid.  

Wash UP: Take a relaxing bath or shower.  Brush your teeth. Get ready as if you were going out for the day.  Get dressed including shoes. (15 minutes)

Exercise:

BODY:  Do 15 minutes yoga routine or take a 15 minute walk outside.  Currently I am doing Jorge Cruise’s 8 Minutes in the morning plan.

SPIRIT:  Meditate for 20 minutes- your choice of methods.  I like:

http://www.centeringprayer.com/methodcp.htm

            MIND:  Read something inspirational for 5 minutes every day.  Inspirational is in the eye of the beholder.

            REFLECT:  Use some sort of self-examination process to see how you are doing with your program.  I like Sr. Kathy’s points: (Franciscan Center, Tampa, FL)

v     For what am I grateful today (name 5)

v     What has the last 24 hours been like?

v     Is there anyone to whom I need to admit I was wrong?

v     What do I want to improve?

v     What do I want to say to God?

v     Is there something God is trying to say to me?

Then there’s my favorite: JUST FOR TODAY (shortened from Al-Anon version)

v     I will try to live through this day only and not tackle all my problems at once.  I can do something for 12 hours that would appall me if I felt that I had to keep it up for a lifetime.

v     I will be happy.  This assumes to be true what Abraham Lincoln said, that “Most folks area as happy as they make up their minds to be”.

v     I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my ‘luck’ as it comes, and fit myself to it.

v     I will try to strengthen my mind.  I will study.  I will learn something useful.  I will read something that requires effort, thought, and concentration.

v     I will exercise my soul in 3 ways: Do someone a good turn and not get found out; if anyone knows of it, it will not count.  I will do at least 2 things I don’t want to do- just for exercise. I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt, they may be hurt but today, I will not show it.

v     I will be agreeable.  I will look as well as I can, dress becomingly, keep my voice low, be courteous, criticize not one bit.  I won’t find fault with anyone nor try to improve or regulate anyone but myself

v     I will have a program.  I may not follow it exactly, but at least I will have it.  I will save myself from 2 pests: hurry and indecision.

v     I will have a quiet half hour by myself and relax.  During this half hour, sometime, I will try to get a better perspective of my life.

v     I will be unafraid.  Especially I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and believe that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.

St. Francis Prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.  Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive; it is in the pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.