daybreak

And on the morning of the seventh day, I rested with a cup of hazelnut coffee and a chocolate glazed donut. I looked out the front window of my home, and across the street at my friend The Old Tree, which now stands, half-dressed, with most of its leaves shaking from an early breeze.
I exhaled because the week behind me is finally over. Today belongs to no one else but me.
And that’s a good thing

Earlier, I watched the sun rise above the roof tops in my suburban world, and in the distance, I watched a red flashing light blink above the North Bellmore water tower.
I love it this way; the morning is quiet and the town, as well as the rest of my house is sleeping peacefully. The sky is a loft of color and the horizon stretches in bands of peach clouds with faint purple edges.
The light blue shade of heaven evolves as the morning progresses, but during the in-between moments of darkness and light, I watch as daybreak announces itself in the different forms of color.

East of the place where I earn my living, I breathe in, and then I exhale all of the excessive hours it takes to maintain my household. I take a moment to thank God the Father for what I have as well as ask for the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, and the courage to change the things I can.

At last, spring has pulled its trick and the bushes in my yard have blossomed with their white flowers. The grass is green and the cold sting of our previous winter has moved on to a different side of the hemisphere.
And as we tilt forward towards the sun, daylight grows in length, and the warmer sunsets seem more pronounced.
Life is more vibrant this time of year. Our children smile as they prepare for their summer months away from classrooms and schedules, and seasonal businesses open their gates to the birth of our summertime excess.

The warm months are busy for me. My work is like a run-on sentence, and every day is more of the same.  Perhaps, this is why mornings like this are so important to me. For the moment, I do not have anything to fix. And for the time being, I have nothing to do but enjoy the quiet

I have no control over what happens next. I cannot control the inevitable bills that enter my mailbox; I cannot stop life from happening, or my loved ones from aging, but I can enjoy this moment.
I have to, otherwise, I become too wrapped up and I forget about the good things like Sunday breakfast with my family.

I have come to the understanding that awareness takes time.
And it has taken time for me to learn this.
Keeping it simple is not always an easy thing.
My mind tends to hold onto the gravity of life, and what I mean is I forget to let myself breathe and unwind.
I forget to enjoy the moment.

That’s why I need mornings like this one

Charles Bukowski once wrote, “Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.”

I don’t want to go crazy. That’s not me anymore.
I just want to hold on to moments like this

….so I can breathe
and unwind…