The reason I like to get up before dawn

Istijlál (Majesty), 19 ‘Azamat (Grandeur), 166 BE – Thursday, June 4, 2009 about 5:13 AM Pacific Time

I like to get up before dawn so that I can watch the sky transform. The change is slow, almost imperceptible at first. This is the way transformation works slowly over the months and the years. Sometimes it takes several months to break a bad habit, to replace that habit with a new habit. A habit that is more in align with the way a person wants to live.

Breaking a bad habit is difficult, after all, nothing worth doing is easy. Replacing an old habit with a new habit is possible, one just has to find the motivation. In some cases, a person must also replace negative self-talk with positive self-talk. Reading self-improvement books help, prayer helps, and reading the scriptures help.

When beginning to form a new habit, I have found the first necessity is to place everything in God's hands. Memorize a prayer or scripture verse which helps and work to replace the bad habit with a good habit. Falling back into the old habit happens, but with work and prayer the new good habit because part of daily life.

The reason I like getting up before dawn is to watch the sky transform from deep black to blue. It reminds me that transformation is a slow process and that I must continue everyday to change bad habits into good habits.