Pause and Say "Ah"

Today I am grateful for conversations with my friends Julie and Sheila yesterday, and for the beauty of the fog-laden sunrise this morning.

In the light of that sunrise, literally and figuratively, this quote from www.gratefulness.org  was especially fitting as I scrolled through my email inbox just now:

When before the beauty of a sunset or a mountain, you pause and exclaim, 

"Ah," you are participating in divinity." 

Ancient Hindu Text

Participating in divinity, or rushing headlong into my day and the long list of what I think I need to get done?  It should be an easy call. Yet, my brain tries to pull me from a divine view and back into ramped up thinking. 

So I pause, and I practice. I pause and appreciate the filtered sun through the low fog and the top branches of the pine tree across the street. I pause again and feel the rhythm of my breathing. I pause again. "Ah," the beauty of nature is stunning and awesome. And I get to be here to not only witness it, but to experience it.

Pause and say "Ah" a few times today. I plan to. Back to Nora McInerny's writing tomorrow.