be willing…

“Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.”
― Meister Eckhart

(image: beautiful fall day, Troup Co, Georgia / Julie Cook / 2013)

It may not be easy.
It may seem even pointless.
It might be terribly painful–both physically and emotionally.
It may be impractical.
Despite of and in spite of all of the above, getting up, out of bed, is always the first step.
It is the first requirement of each and every day. Each new morning asks of us but one thing—to get up.

Once we get up, we begin.
For some it may be a painfully slow beginning.
For others, a non stop whirlwind of motion and emotion.
Either way, it is the first step.

Perhaps the day’s prior activities were a bust.
A disaster.
A life changing trauma.
Hitting the rewind button the only empty desperate desire.
And yet, this new morning is calling. It will not be going away.
Pulling the covers up tighter is the first instinct. Screaming or moaning a silent “NO” within one’s brain is the general reflex. And yet the body knows the familiar motion–swing the legs and feet to the side, step down, roll out, sit up, stand up— however you do it, move toward making the physical happen.

It comes each new day whether we want it to or not, for good or for bad–the morning comes.
Meister Eckhart’s call is that we be willing to be a beginner, to begin and start each new day anew.

I see it as potential. As a chance to make things better. Oh no you say, things can’t or won’t be better—but I say to you, oh yes they can. Each new morning offers you a brand new slate. It is your choice of how you write it. No, we cannot change what happened yesterday. It’s all in the books, closed and finished. But today, this morning, that’s different—for it is still empty. It’s just waiting for you to put your fresh mark on things–to turn the bad into good, the sad into bearable, the sorrow toward joy.

It is truly your choice. None of us can change what Life brings our way no matter how hard we try otherwise–to give back the tragedy, the diagnosis, the final notice, the poor results, the losses, the sorrow, the pain, the poor lot we are given. . .
But it is our choice of how we deal with it all–and it is each new morning that offers us that opportunity to begin again anew.

Either we choose to be a beginner this brand new morning— or we don’t—but I don’t foresee much in the way of anything good from choosing the no, the not this day, I’ll wait till tomorrow.. .

Make the choice, the effort to be a beginner and change your world, each new morning, one new day at a time—it’s all we are promised in this life, a new morning, a new day, a new chance.

This is a familiar litany of mine and I think it is because I know how hard those mornings can be. Maybe I am saying all of this to myself, encouraging myself to get up and go. We all need encouragement. May this be yours. . .

Be willing to begin—this is all I’m asking.