Sunday morning I walked down our long lane to retrieve the newspaper we get once a week. It was a beautiful summer morning – birds were signing, the neighbor’s horses ran to the fence to greet me and I saw four new baby rabbits.
Upon returning to the house I sat on the porch to scan through the newspaper. Do you think that added to the pleasure and positive excitement of the day?
No, instead, I read of major flood damage, property lawsuits, investment fraud, bank failures, car wrecks, foreclosure auctions, oil-soaked marshes, nuclear waste pollution, Agent Orange illnesses, FEMA financial waste, political anger, immigration disputes, 4 upcoming death-row executions, religious hate here in Nashville, an athletic hero arrested, $100 million art theft, priest sex abuse, 2 police officers killed, “fear grips Bankok,” toxic mold dangers, fecal matter in public pools, rapist convicted, and “double-dip” recession feared.
Okay – so much for the beginning of a great day. If our minds are like mental factories, what am I likely to produce if these thoughts are the raw ingredients I pour into it each morning?
When I walk into someone’s house, the first thing I want to see is their library. If the only reading material I find is the daily paper, the National Enquirer and US, I’ll doubt that person’s ability to do anything great.
I used to rationalize getting the Sunday paper because of the many coupons – but I’m not sure wanting those justifies allowing the bad news they’re wrapped in into my house.
Henry Ward Beecher said, “The first hour is the rudder of the day — The Golden Hour”
I’m very protective of how I start each morning. I know I’m planting the seeds for what the day will hold. Today I need a mind cleaning.
Dan Miller's Blog 