"Anything, absolutely anything, can be done ritually. Marrying, burying,
"Many years ago, I met a middle-aged nurse who worked in a hospital cancer unit. Each day she spent hours in the presence of suffering. She told me that she had a theme song she played on her way to work. It was a particular song that reminded her each day of what a gift it was to be alive, a song that lifted her spirit. She told me, 'by the time I am at work, I am ready for the day!'
"As I listened to these and many other stories like them, I began to realize the power that rituals have to change us. It was not hard to imagine the effect that years of starting and ending each day with a time of meditation, thanking the universe for another day and ending the day in gratitude, might have on how a person experiences life. I could imagine how that morning ritual reminded Lea every day that what mattered was to give and that she had the power to give from the moment she left the house until her return. I could see that nurse singing her heart away every morning because that one song somehow put her in just the right place to start her day. Rituals are so important that we must be very careful what rituals we allow or choose to become routine. Jim took those 'rant' walks for many years before he turned them into 'gratitude' walks.
"A good first step to determining your rituals is to become aware of the rituals that already exist in your life. How do you begin your day? What is the mood you set? How do you end your day? What are the last thoughts that you take with you into your dreams? What rituals lift your spirit, and what ones may be diminishing it? Over time, as we become more conscious of the rituals that shape us, we become more able to shape them. I begin my day by reading my personal vision statement, which begins with these three words: I am content. By reading this statement each morning I send a prayer to my self-conscious about my life intention before the day takes on a life of its own.
"Thoughts and words are the powerful beginning of a chain that defines how we live. Years ago I read a saying that I thought of many times as I listened to people tell me about their lives: 'Be careful of your thoughts, because your thoughts become your words. Be careful with your words, because your words become your actions. Be careful of your actions, because your actions become your habits. Be careful of your habits, because your habits become your character. And your character becomes your destiny.' "
