Twilight

It's 6 AM. The sun will rise in just a bit. It's quiet and I finally have room for my thoughts. You know that time: Twilight. That moment when darkness is being pressed out of existence by the light. That moment when the edge of sleep gives way to the moment of awakening. The promise of a new day. The promise of a moment of wakefulness, enlightenment. A chance to seize the moment and wake up and start anew.

It was just such a moment for me today. Early, when nothing was rushing me to beat the clock, to squeeze another to-do item from my list, but just a moment to awaken, breathe, open my eyes and look around to see what the world is like without the unending pressures of the day. And oh what wonders did I see.

At first it's difficult, scary even, to try and look at yourself and your world through eyes that are not pressed to the back of your skull with the emergencies of the day. But as you breathe and allow yourself the space to open up to the wonders of a new day, things hit you. You begin to see where you are, really, not where everyone else wants you to be, but where you are at this moment. What dream state you've been living in. And how another night sleepwalking through life is such a waste of time.

I realized that I'm sleepwalking through most of my day. Just kind of meandering around without purpose. So, this morning, I woke up ... a little (yes I know one morning alone is not enough, you need a lifetime, but stick with me on this). This morning I decided to take conscious control of my relationships. In other words: to alpha-up in my life.

• To be the leader of my own narrative.
• To decide how I will be treated.
• To decide who I will curate into and out of my life.
• To consciously devote my most precious resource, my time, to a world of importance and not urgency.

So here's my question: "How do you want to wake up?" What things can you do today so that you don't find yourself dreaming the same monotonous dream a year from now? What steps every day do you need to take to keep shaking yourself awake? What people do you need to curate into or out of your life? What circumstance do you need to transcend? How will you open your eyes and keep them open, day-after-sleep-day?

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale