The Quiet Time of Day

I depend on G-d‘s guidance. It is the only guidance that has ever worked for me. But there’s a catch. In my experience, G-d depends on the silence of the morning to transmit his guidance. My mind must be quiet in order to catch the hunches and nudges that come from Him.

I reflect back on that daily quiet time as a reference point—I return to that peaceful time when I find myself stressed or worried about something in the future. What is the future I am talking about? Anything outside of the 24 hours of the day. The quiet time prepares me for the day ahead. It reminds me how it feels to be peaceful and what inspiration I might experience when I still my mind.

Isn’t most worry about something that hasn’t happened, but might? Good things might happen in the future as well, but it seems we are programmed to think of the bad things that might occur and perhaps what we think we need to do to avoid those things.

I have found that as long as I live within the confines of the day, and one day at a time, I can keep my mind at ease. Worry doesn't live within today’s 24 hours. Worry lives elsewhere—in a future we can’t control.

As long as the future seems rosy, my mind can stay easily within the next 24 hours. A little meditation in the morning, and writing down what that which I am grateful, helps my mind stays focused on today.

But wow, with any potential cloud on the horizon and my mind immediately attaches to it. The cloud turns black and the rain begins to pour. All kinds of catastrophic events emerge from that cloud. My mind re-focuses on every possible negative angle. With each angle comes another, and another. My mind goes off its 24-hour rails. My self-will is at it again—and it is up to no good. I can’t begin to hear G-d's guidance through all the racket inside my head. My self-will has taken over. I need to find, and I search for, that peaceful quiet and serene time I experience in the morning.