Ritual in the Morning
What comes up for you around the word “ritual”? When I hear the word “ritual,” I have a vague impression of chanting and incense. Which is ridiculous. Rituals are merely repeated actions done with intention and given some importance. And these repeated actions have a way of running our lives, for better or worse.
It’s easy to lose sight of what we know is important, and so we’ve started a morning ritual in the past several months to keep our purpose right in front of us: Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m., all clients and all recovery staff participate in a short, intense morning ritual.Why are you here? What do you want? What’s your vision?
Those are some big questions that are answered each morning by each individual: “I’m here to change my life. I want long-term active recovery. My vision is to live a different life of integrity and possibility.” And then they get specific. There’s power in the details. Common sense and science both tell us that our physiology impacts our psychology, and so we have men stand in ‘the power pose’ when they state something they’re grateful for and what they are going to BE that day. When it’s my turn, I’ll say my piece with my arms straight up in the air, legs spread shoulder-width apart. It’s different each day: “My name is Brian, and I am grateful that I had cream for my coffee this morning. Today I am taking a stand for CONNECTION.” Yesterday I stated how grateful I was to be part of each of these men’s lives, and I took a stand for HUMILITY. This short, powerful morning practice is not just a chance for men to make a declaration, but it is also an opportunity for men to be held accountable to who they say they want to be. One man states he’s going to be GRATITUDE today, and eats his breakfast without a simple thank-you to those who prepared it or those who clean up. This provides an opportunity for him to receive some direct feedback about how his vision for his day isn’t manifesting in his behavior.
What does this have to do with sobriety?
Everything. And nothing. All at the same time. Being polite isn’t going to keep anyone sober, but maintaining that ‘attitude of gratitude’ and having a value-driven life might. What it really comes down to, at GLR, is the value of active recovery: do choices, actions, intentions, words, time management reflect a desire for living clean and sober? The 4-month Foundations program is designed to help men create new habits, new ways of BEING, new ways of taking action.This morning ritual isn’t a solution or a “fix.” It’s simply another opportunity for men to build a foundation and be intentional about living a different way. Do you have any rituals that you’ve put in place? I’d be interested to learn what they are. You can always shoot me your ideas at belve@guidinglightworks.org.
