"Thinking of God first in the morning immediately softens my outlook and has a profound impact on the way my entire day unfolds."

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Episode 247 -- November 17, 2022

New Every Morning: How to Remake Your Decisions Each Day

How we begin our day has a big impact on how the rest of it will go. Some people start with a nutritious breakfast or morning yoga. Others immediately check their phones. Sometimes our sleep gets disrupted by noisy neighbors or racing thoughts and we wake up groggy. These things matter, especially as we continue healing in recovery. Getting off on the wrong foot can affect our mood and our choices all day. We can learn to use our morning rituals to prepare for a day with more energy and clearer thoughts.

In her book Fearless Relationships: Simple Rules for Lifelong Contentment, Karen Casey draws from her own life experiences to offer wisdom about what helps and what hinders all kinds of relationships. Casey can serve as a guide for all of us who want to live with more serenity and keep creating a world that will nurture us and our relationships.

In this excerpt, Casey discusses how she starts her day with God. We see how doing this helps her have a positive attitude for the day ahead. Addiction can be isolating, and we can often forget that our Higher Power is constantly with us. Connecting with our Higher power as a part of our morning routine can help us remember that we are never alone in this thing called life.

This excerpt has been edited for brevity.

"Start your day with God" seems almost too trite to suggest as a rule, yet good habits are hard to form. Personal experience has taught me how easy it is to forget my Higher Power when I am preparing for the day's activities. Generally speaking, if I begin my first task before taking a few moments to think about God, I get ahead of myself and begin to project into the outcome and beyond. Getting off on the wrong foot is far easier than I like to admit.

What does it mean to start the day with God? The answer varies for each of us. I begin my day reading some spiritual passages with my husband and quietly reflecting on them, sometimes sharing our views and other times just sitting in silence. Closing my time with the Serenity Prayer reminds me that it is God's will, not mine, that I need to honor.

This is such a simple action and requires so little time that it's hard to believe I skip it some mornings. But I do, and the repercussions are often quite swift. I certainly don't believe that God is keeping score and sends me a problem as payback for neglecting our time together, but I do believe that when I forget to think first of God, my subsequent actions are less considerate, less gentle, and then others react accordingly.

Thinking of God first in the morning immediately softens my outlook and has a profound impact on the way my entire day unfolds. It's almost as though I can see the people and experiences that are part of my destiny through God's eyes.

Throughout my day, I sometimes get off track, even when I do my morning ritual, but I know that I can return to the Serenity Prayer and calm will return instantly. This generally doesn't happen without my invitation though.

I have tried to incorporate into my day a subtle but constant awareness of God's presence while I interact with my partners on this journey. It empowers me to be my better self, and it removes whatever feelings of isolation and separation I may have had.

I learned long ago that the disease I suffer from, alcoholism, loves isolation all too much. At Twelve Step meetings, we often say, "We are in very poor company when we are alone in our heads." I know, I have the scars to prove it. Even though we are never really alone, we do manage to block out the awareness of God all too easily. At least that's true for me.

Remembering that God is always present during every moment of my journey, whether I am conscious of it or not assures me that the outcome will be far gentler than when I let my own ego assume the role of God.

There is nothing difficult about deciding to begin each day by acknowledging God. Unfortunately, many of us think we should not have to remake this decision once it has been made, but that's simply not how life works. We have to remake many important decisions on a daily basis; praying is just one of them.

Forgetting God's constant presence is just too easy without some prodding. I am so grateful for my frequent reminders from sponsors and friends. My relationships with all people have reaped the benefits. Conversely, all of my relationships suffer every day that I forget to take some time with God. How easily we add to our difficulties when we forget to remember God!

Touch Points

  1. Upon arising, think first of God.
  2. As you ponder any thought or action, try to discern what God would have you think or do. 3. Make a habit of "taking God with you"
    wherever you go.
  3. Conversing with God in your mind is not very difficult if practiced.
  4. While doing any task, the complex as well as the simple, become aware of God's presence. 6. Remember, God never leaves you.
  5. If you are experiencing any anxiety, you have forgotten to remember God's presence. 8. God is everywhere. Take notice.

About the Author:
Karen Casey is the best-selling author of Each Day a New Beginning, Daily Meditations for Practicing the Course, Keepers of the Wisdom, and numerous other books. She has also written two books for girls: Girls Only! and Girl to Girl. Her signature book, Each Day a New Beginning, has sold three million copies. Karen enjoys golfing and riding her Harley with her husband. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Naples, Florida.

© 2003 by Karen Casey
All rights reserved