When I was fresh out of college, a man I worked with scrawled a poem on a cocktail napkin and left it for me to find. It read:

Angels are looking
For new skies to fly in
A virgin space for wingspread
It is your head.
God waits to be born.

I imagined myself in love with this man whose name I can’t quite recall. Fortunately, it was unrequited; he had issues I didn’t know how to handle.

Every once in a while the poem pops into my head and I smile. I still love it and all of the possibilities it represents.

Each day dawns ripe with possibility, which ones will we grasp? Which call will we answer? What new way of living, of seeing the world will we embrace?

Or will we continue down the same habitual path we're currently walking?

It may not always seem as though we have options. We have tried and true ways of doing things — and these ways work.

We can find new ways of looking at the world, new eyes through which to see it — if we try.

Habits streamline life and help us take care of business in a timely manner. Yet taken to the extreme, they can become ruts, making escape difficult.

When redundancy becomes a way of life, we’re in the “dead zone”.

Our souls crave the mystery of the unknown. That’s where our creative spirit thrives.

Challenges and obstacles are opportunities for growth. The balance beam of a life worth living spans the gap between routine and adventure.

Let's take an inventory of our habits. Which habits serve us and which ones are keeping us a bit too safe?

Are your habits moving you closer to the life you want to live or not? You get to decide!

“Our self-image and our habits tend to go together. Change one and you will automatically change the other.” ~ Dr. Maxwell Maltz

Good habits are golden! It takes 21–28 consecutive days to “deeply root” a habit into our psyche. If you’ve been doing something for 20 days and then you skip a day, you have to start over at day one!

I skipped two days of a new habit I’d hoped to make permanent this week. Darn it! 

I’d gotten into the habit of waking up at five a.m. and doing my deep writing and inner work before going to the gym or starting my day. 

I was so excited about this new habit that I even coaxed myself out of bed one day last week when I really wanted to stay put.

And then yesterday, I just couldn’t do it. 

Keanu and I had both worked so hard over the weekend at the Art Fest at Lanikuhonua in Ko`Olina that I needed the rest.

While it’s true, we did work hard, and I did need the rest, I’m still disappointed that I wasn’t able to push myself out of bed yesterday … or today.

To keep my newly restarted “wake-up-n-at-em” habit, I either have to change my wake-up time to six (which is easier) or start over at day one and wake up at five tomorrow.

I haven’t yet decided which option will win.

Two other thoughts are vying for my attention this morning:
“Do Less and Imagine More” and
“Intention is an Action Word”

Those thoughts are connected, and both are worthy of consideration.

When I fully intend to get myself up at five, it’s easier to do so. It’s also easy to imagine myself getting up at five and having the quiet house all to myself.

The house is still quiet at six and getting up then is easier.

The issue isn’t really when I get up, it’s more about what I do with my time once I’m up.

It’s about Clarity of Purpose and Singularity of Focus! Again! (Yay, I’m still on track!)

Setting an intention for the day, and then imagining yourself living your intention, is a great habit to start, no matter what time of day you arise.

When we set an intention and imagine ourselves acting on our intention, we pave the way for it to happen. We put ourselves on alert to see new paths or doors that open to help us accomplish what we’ve set out to do. 

Deeply Rooted, Rising Higher — Good habits, firmly in place, create a solid foundation and set us up for success!

What’s your intention for this glorious day ahead?