Whoever wants to, can come and listen to the Bhajans' Group playing in the mornings."

"We are having a work-out session for whatever girl is inspired to join, at seven am."

"The mornings here are the perfect time to practice your running."

"We are going to have a concert here in town in a few days. Everybody who wants to help with postering and leafletting is most welcome."

"The morning program starts at nine am."

Help!

So much to do, but not enough of little me and no way for me to prioritize!

Everything sounded important and like a good idea, but it was litterally impossible to do everything. After all, some activities were even scheduled at the same times.

A kind of fear emerged from deep within: what to chose? What if I made the wrong choices and didn't do what I was really supposed to be doing? Would my soul be displeased with me? Would Guru? And what if I irrevocably lost a precious opportunity to make progress, because I didn't manage to listen to the right inner voice?

I have to admit, I was terribly confused. And not for the first time I wished that our lives came with a kind of manual. But, of course, that would be too easy. And, admittedly, a bit frightening. Because then you would know exactly what you were supposed to do. But what if you really didn't want to do that very thing? Right now, we all have the excuse that we don't know. Which is helpful in the sense that your soul only expects you to act in accordance with your conscience and your awareness. And karma does take into account what your motives are. Up to a point. Because, if you touch fire you will still burn your fingers, whether you knew beforehand it was hot, or not.

But I digress.

Fortunately Guru - who was sitting on the stage – asked for questions later that day during the morning program.

Gathering all my courage – after all, I was neither used to speaking up before Guru nor before the about five hundred people present - I hesitantly raised my hand.

When Guru indicated for me to go ahead with a nod of his head, I stood up.

"Uhm... Guru, how do I know what is the right thing for me to do at every moment?"

Guru gave me a sweet smile.

"Whenever you get up, be it a six, seven, eight, nine, ten." My eyes got wider and wider with each number. "eleven, twelve, one, two... No, two is too much. Whenever you get up, the most important thing for you is to have a good morning meditation. Then the light of your meditation will lead you through the day and you will automatically do the right thing."

Again he smiled that otherworldly smile of his.

"Thank you, Guru."

Slightly dazed, I sat down.

Had Guru – our Guru, who usually advocated getting up at six o'clock and being disciplined about it – just told me that it was all right for me to sleep in, as long as I had a good, solid morning medication?

I replayed his words once again in my head. Yes, it appeared that he had!

The only problem with this: from the time I'd attended my first meditation class, my preferred meditation time had always been ten pm. For me, the mornings were more for discipline than for going deep within.

Not being a morning person (which I might have mentioned once or twice...) at that time I was simply too tired for some serious concentration.

But I might go ahead and try on Sundays...

*****

"Supreme, I bow to thee."

I gleefully jumped back into bed after having finished my realtively short morning meditation consisting of twenty minutes silence, a few prayers and the most important songs. And - yes, I had gotten up at the usual quarter to six and not slept in. Even good habits are hard to break sometimes.

As a whole Sunday with no other obligations than the centre mediation in the evening lay ahead of me, I could have taken my time and meditated longer. But...

Oh, dearest Guru. I'm so sorry!

Except that I really wasn't.

Quite on the contrary, actually: my whole being was flooded with joy at the thought that I was going back to sleep.

Snuggling contently into the warm embrace of my comforter, I threw a last, fleeting glance at the Transcendental featuring prominently on my shrine in the left hand corner of my room.

You see, Guru, I told my Master with as much sincerity as I could muster, I can't even ask you to give me the inspiration to stay up and maybe even meditate for a longer time. Because that's not really what I want. All I want right now is to go back to sleep. Therefore, I'm just placing the whole situation at your feet. If you want me to meditate longer in the mornings then please, please help me. You have to create the will to do so within me. Because I really want to do right thing. But at the moment, I simply can't.

With this thought in mind, I allowed the blissful sensation of falling asleep to take over.

I consequently forgot about my honest prayer in the hustle and bustle of life.

But...

It seems that Guru did not.

And that he had taken my sincere plea seriously.

Because a few weeks later I suddenly noticed that I had been having rather substantial morning meditations for quite some time. In fact, to my great surprise I realized that the morning meditation had – indeed – turned into my most favorite time of the day. And that the peace that I received remained with me for increasingly longer periods of time until it finally lasted for the whole day. (Of course, I still experienced better and worse days. But generally speaking.)

And I had no idea how and when this had changed. It had happened so naturally...

And just in case you're wondering: yes,  almost two decades later and I still deeply enjoy my long morning meditations. (Although not exactly at six o'clock. :) )
In fact, they have become much more substantial and fulfilling over the years and I honestly couldn't imagine life without it. No matter what.
Everybody have a nice, peaceful day and I'm looking forward to hearing from you! :)