It’s an Esteemable Act to stop and smell the roses. The are incredible mental and physical health benefits to being still, breathing deep, and meditating daily.
Daily Meditation.
For many years, I diligently and faithfully read my daily meditations. I took my time while reading and digesting every single word, carefully making notes and highlighting sections, which caught my attention. I weaved the message of the day into my daily activities. Reading my daily meditation was a part of my routine, just like taking a shower, brushing my teeth, and pressing my clothes. Reading my daily meditations was a great way to start the day and helped me to maintain some semblance of balance throughput the day. But over the years, I became lazy and careless in my approach to my readings. I rushed through them, rarely understanding a word that I read. As a result, I missed the essence of what keeps me grounded.
Do you Understand What you Read?
Do you really take the time to understand the meaning of your daily readings? On average, I’d imagine too few of us do. When we skim through our readings, we miss the real benefit of these powerful, inspirational, mind-altering tools. There are powerful riches to be found in our daily readings, which give us the means to change a bad day, avert a disaster, calm a nerve, think through a problem, or simply untwist a mind wrought with anger. Think of a time when you needed help in making sense of an experience and you opened a spiritual or inspirational book to just the right page, seemingly by accident. When we don’t process what we read, how can it help us?
Benefits of Investing the Time to Slow Down.
Yet if we invest the time, we will experience more abundance and a greater sense of serenity. We’ll discover tools for living that previously eluded us. We’ll feel better equipped to handle situations that used to baffle us because we’re participating in our solution. We’ll know a new freedom and a new happiness because we’ll know we are not alone.
Today, I invite you to stop… and smell the roses. Be Still. You can start that practice by reading, understanding, and really digesting your daily inspirational readings. The more you practice reading for understanding, the easier it becomes and the more you will benefit.
I’m Francine Ward, author of Esteemable Acts, life coach and motivational speaker. Join my Esteemable Acts conversation on Facebook.