Every time I wake up, I give myself a speech.

I wish myself good morning, and tell myself this:

I am no longer mired in the measurement of life,

but in the living of it.

Every day, I discover a prayer in silence, in which there is no distraction.

I quote Grandma Moses: Life Is What You Make Of It,

Every single day.

Then, I decide what good thing I am going to do for someone.

Make a phone call, send some flowers, bring some ice cream to my neighbors,

buy some underpants for a man in the Mansion,

get a sewing machine for a refugee child, buy some shoes for an Afghan mother,

walk in the woods, take a beautiful photo, tell my wife how much I love her,

walk a dog on a country road.

There is always someone who could use some good.

I am training myself to find them and do it. I never run out of possibilities.

I won’t live in fear any more; it does no good and tears me to pieces.

I won’t live in anger any more; it simply enables my pain and the pain of others.

I don’t look to the media or any guru or pundit for the truth about my life or our times.

I look within.

Let me seek the gift of silence, and empathy, and solitude, where everything I touch is turned to prayer and the morning sky and the birds are my prayer, and the wind in the trees are my prayer, for life is all in all.