I have a favorite time of day, two actually. I love the early morning, sunrise, a time when the world is just waking up with me, a time of quiet. I can have a cup of tea, and listen to the birds singing and bringing in the new day. It is a moment when my house is not yet filled with noise. Children still slumber peacefully in bed, no demands yet on my time.
I like the phrase “dawn of a new day.” It paints a word picture in my mind of the day slowly waking, calmly, peacefully. The morning is important. It can set the tone for the day. I try never to rush the morning because I know that once the day is fully upon me it can gather momentum, like a wheel going down hill that I never can catch.
As I get lost in the day doing the things I have to do, things people want me to do and places I have to go, I sometime forge ahead and don’t take a breathe till my other favorite time of day, sunset.
This is a time to slow down, to leave work, worries and sometimes responsibilities at the door. I have a group of friends and when we are together we plan our days around the sunset. Sunsets can be a spectacular sight, but even when you are in a place where the topography is not, it is still a moment to slow down and enjoy the fruits of our labor. I know that sometimes after a particularly challenging day it may be hard to recognize those fruits. Which is the very reason we should.
As mornings are for beginnings, evenings are for endings, a time for enjoying our loved ones who we have been apart from all day.
I don’t always get to enjoy my favorite times of day. Sometimes I oversleep, I have school in the evenings, or someone is sick. So you might say in theory this is a good idea but you don’t have time. Most assuredly this probably is true. Since I know it is not feasible everyday, I try to set aside time several times a week to enjoy my early mornings and sunsets.
I think of this as a little vacation time that doesn’t cost any money. I’d rather be in the mountains in the morning or the ocean at sunset, but till that happens, the view from my back porch with a cup of tea or a glass of wine is just fine!
Cyndee Hopkins 