How to see the sun rise in your life?

(This post is the first in the 'Rising Early series'. You could read the rest of the posts in the series HERE  )

'Mahatma' Gandhi - An inspiration for generations to come

Just as the world was celebrating the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi - a great son of India, I was thinking of why would someone be given a title of 'Mahatma' or a 'great soul'. Apart from the historically obvious reasons, I was looking at the personality that was worthy of being called a 'great soul'; at the values that went into the making of a Mahatma. More than anything else, it was the discipline and selfless service that the man - Mohandas Gandhi devoted himself to that elevated him to the status of a Mahatma.

I will narrate an anecdote here to highlight how discipline was integral to Gandhiji's approach to life. Once, Gandhiji was to have a 'more than normal' busy day. Looking at the forthcoming schedule, Gandhiji told his secretary that he 'would have to do more of his spiritual practices' for the day. The secretary obviously perplexed by this additional devotion of time asked back 'But, don't you require to create more free time in your schedule today. You seem to be doing just the contrary!'. Gandhiji patiently replied back,'Yes, that is exactly why I need to do more of my spiritual practices, I need to be more efficient today!'

A stunning cosmic light show that I witnessed recently, here in Boone!

Reflecting on this incident and looking at my own life, I see that it is time that I brought a certain discipline in my own life. I have been for so long wanting to begin my day earlier than I normally do, i.e. before sunrise.  There are numerous advantages that I see to waking up early and that is how I have wanted my life to be.

For reasons ranging from laziness to lack of enough commitment, I have so far been unable to do so. But, I know it is time, once again, for me to persevere in my efforts towards creating this new lifestyle. I have been studying the psychology of habits as a student of psychology in an attempt to understand how I could best form a positive life changing habit. Also, I have come across so many others who want to introduce a life-transforming habit into their own lives. And it has now let me beyond wondering, to act on how I could best bring about this positive change in my life as well of those around me.

The first thing that I will begin by doing is to 'practice before I preach'. Yes, it is important that I bring about a change in my own life before I could begin to share more on this. So, this is how I will go about it:

1. Begin with waking up at 6:00 am from the 9th of October,2012.
2. Practice this uninterrupted for a month.
3. Share my experience on the 10th of November.

It is my intention to share my month-long experience with each one of you so that you may see such transformation possible in your own lives. And then even as I continue to persist with my own efforts, I'd share certain insights into how you could begin to inculcate one good habit in your own lives.

This is an attempt to transform my amazing life into extraordinary just by doing ordinary things CONSISTENTLY. I am on with my plan to see the sun rise in my life, are you?