LIA'S WORDS OF WISDOM : Good Morning to You

Lia Vosti

“Good Morning!” 

It’s such a simple phrase, such a commonplace thing to say to someone in passing, someone in class or at work. But how often do you really mean it? How often do you actually take five seconds out of your day to think about those two simple words? We get so used to simply saying “Good Morning” to everyone or anyone in passing that we rarely stop to think: Is it a good morning? Is it really a good morning? Do I even want it to be a good morning? 

The morning is my favorite part of the day. Not because I don’t enjoy sleep or because I simply can’t sleep in, but because I believe the morning is the most powerful, influential, transformative, and arguably most beautiful time of the day. 

It is so easy to set your alarm so that you have exactly enough seconds in the morning to get up, eat, caffeinate, wash your face, look presentable, scramble around your house or your room looking for all of those things you should have actually put where they belong the night before, and then rush out the door with just enough time to arrive where you need to be with 2.3 seconds to spare…and then, exhale. I used to do that. Now, I don’t.

It takes me approximately 15 minutes to get ready in the morning, but when I have to be out the door by 9:05 a.m., I wake up at 8:00 a.m. Why?, you may ask. Your life is made up of each individual day. And waking up an extra forty minutes early every day changes my every day for the better – it changes my life.

I wake up, stretch, get out of bed, put on a comfy sweatshirt, wash my face, make myself a delicious bowl of granola and yogurt, and sit at my desk (I am in college, hence my desk is also my kitchen table) and eat my granola and think…for a good fifteen or twenty minutes. Our days are so busy, so full of noise and rush and human interactions that, more often than not, we forget to take the time not only to be grateful for it, but also to be excited for it. 

The other morning I made myself hot tea before I left for class and my tea bag said “your life is based on the energy inside of you, not outside of you.” This is so true. Your life is based on the energy inside of you, so why not spend a few minutes each morning cultivating that energy? Think about what you might do today, what opportunity and possibility today might hold, and pray for the day – whether it is to a god, or love, or the universe, starting your day off with intention and cultivating an open mind will change your day. 

By believing that you have the power to change your own day, you begin to focus on what you are capable of doing and not on what you aren’t capable of doing. This simple shift of mind frame has the potential to change your day as well as anyone you interact with. Marianne Williamson once said, “As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Everyone wants to change the world, right? So what if you can today? What if simply having a good start to your day can create an energy with in yourself that allows you to interact and influence the world in a more positive way? Well guess what, I think it can. 

So tomorrow, when you wake up, take a few minutes just to think. Wake up and be inspired, fearless, open minded, full of benevolent intention, gratitude, and expectation of goodness in the world. It will change your day, I promise. 

If nothing else, wake up and read this quote by Dag Hammarskjold: “For everything that has been, thanks. For everything that will be, yes.” 

Have a Good Morning!

The Woman Behind the Monthly Words of Wisdom:

Lia Vosti is an undergraduate at Santa Clara University, majoring in Bioengineering. Growing up together, her words always made the most obscure situations crisp and clear. It is clear that she is the up and coming Renaissance woman, able to give homely advise after a day in the lab.