The first thing I do when I wake up each day is open my heart to the most extravagant show on earth – the sunrise. The progression of darkness into light is the most hopeful thing we can ever witness. It’s like a whole new chance to let go of yesterday and start afresh. “I love that this morning’s sunrise does not define itself by last night’s sunset,” said Steve Maraboli. How amazing if we could just wake up and be a brand new person each day, completely untainted by the past.
March is a season of reflection, of slowing down and pondering over faults and alterations. Every year during this time, I have a tendency to rehash my life; sometimes to good effect, sometimes not. During one of my early morning ponderings recently, I remembered a little episode from school. We were being trained for our high school board exams. During a mock paper, my teacher caught me using the correction pen a little too often. I always had partial OCD, so my paper had to be neat, minus scribbling and errors. It would upset me if it wasn’t so. However, the teacher pointed out that it was okay to just strike out the mistakes and move on. That way I would save time. A complete paper was more important than a neat, but unfinished one. Almost 28 years later, when I thought about that bit of advice, it resounded with a different connotation altogether.
I am not much of a church enthusiast, but sometimes I go and abstractedly sit; just feeling the vibrations and wondering how so much pain, guilt, confusion, gratitude and peace coalesces and fuses into a whole in that place. Decades and decades of emotions forming a tangible web that clings to the walls and ceilings of that one structure. I always wonder what people take away from such an experience. Do they step out, forget everything and stumble all over again? Do they learn from their mistakes and evolve? Do they make amends? My curiosity makes me question everything. But these questions are not so much about others as they are about me. They sprout from my own journey, my personal evolution. The questions keep popping and the answers probably lie in the attempt of uncovering them. We all want to build beautiful, legendary lives. And it serves well to remember that life doesn’t come with a correction pen.
Quite coincidently, as I was toying around with these thoughts lately, I came across an article on the Native America Navajo tribe and their much celebrated rugs. The unadorned, hand-woven minimalism of the Navajo rugs is art in itself. But the legend that surrounds them is deep. If you look closely, you will find an imperfection in many of the rugs. There are two theories to this. One, that these mistakes are deliberately woven into the rug as a reminder that man isn’t perfect. Then there’s the other theory, the one that resonated with me. It says that although the mistakes might not be intentional, what does seem intentional is the desire not to go back and fix them. Once the mistake is already woven into the fabric, they prefer to leave them there as reminders. When I came across this, the idea set me up for days of thinking and rethinking. Like joining the dots, I connected it to my questions and the episode of the correction pen.
Then a few days later, I happened to be watching the movie, ‘Before Sunrise’. It’s about two young people meeting on a journey and spending the night just walking around town and talking about life and love. The whole movie is a playful but intense conversation between Jesse and Celine. At one point, Jesse says, “…just once, I’d love to see some little old lady save up all her money to go to the fortune teller, and she’d get there all excited about hearing her future, and the woman would say, ‘Um-hmm. Tomorrow, and all your remaining days will be exactly like today. A tedious collection of hours. And you will have no new passions, and no new thoughts and no new travels, and when you die, you’ll be completely forgotten.’ It rattled me a little to think that while we are fretting over what’s passed and toiling over what’s unimportant, our whole life could just turn into a tedious collection of hours. Mistakes be damned! What I needed to do was make the hours count.
Like every year, this March seems to be a time of transition too. Everything appears to be unpredictable. Each day demands another quantum leap – of faith, of strength, of integrity. What good was a sunrise if I couldn’t pick the one lesson it taught me? Now as the first rays light up the dark sky, I feel more and more inspired to source treasures hidden in unpretentious moments. Bereft of bias, the day seems expansive and uncluttered. In all probability, this must be how we are supposed to show our acknowledgement of the gift. This is most likely how we can honor the ‘Giver’.
THE MIND DECLUTTER PROJECT 
Lovely insight on the Gift of Sunrise. How a perspective changes the whole approach towards life and is work of art is well depicted and summarised. Kudos
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Thank you, Vinod. 😃
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Wow Ren, well said… The sunrise, every morning, is a constant reminder that all will be OK… Keep reminding, my dear friend
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Yes, Mel. 😃
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Good One, Ren.. Before Sunrise is my fav. movie also, lot of stuff to think , yaar
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Oh is it? I loved the movie. The sequel is good too. 👍
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SUNRISE. A sign of positivity,
A new day
A new beginning
A new light
A new perspective
A new hope
However lazy or irritable one may be just watching the sunrise just brightens and rejuvenates our being
It just gives me all the above and also a feeling of gratitude..
Thank you fr this wonderful sun which only shines dwn on us spreading it’s light of hope and positivity.
Unconditionally
Thanks Ren for reminding all of us of this wonderful Gift from Almighty
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Sure it is, Mavis.
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Very well written Renu… As the sunset, lets wake up with the positive thoughts of new beginning with the sunrise, which awaits for us tomorrow:)
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Yes, Lovie. Thank you for your response. Means a lot. 😘
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You are a seeker, a deep thinker, you have the ability to realise and reflect…. I love such people as they are my types 🙂 …. whats life’s worth if this blessing of exemplary human intellect doesnt make us pause, look back, ponder and learn…..
43 yrs on this planet and i still learn it the first time here on your blog…. that my days are not as shiny bright and promising as i rise late…. i dvelve in nites… and the dread spreads more as i rise late… your blogs dear ren are a an elixir of hope, a potion of healings.. simply love them…. keep bringing it on fren…. Thanks
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Your words of appreciation are my motivation too. Thank you, Abhi. Maybe I’ll write about sunsets, the moon and stars next so you won’t feel bad about missing the sunrise. 😜
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Thanks Renica for such a wonderful article and for reminding me to just restart the life. (Press ctrl+alt+del of life). Yes. It does help to sometimes stop rectifying things and simply move on. It has helped me a lot.
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Ctl+Alt+Del is right. 👍😃
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Nice thinking on gift of a sunrise.well written.God bless you
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Thank you, Sunny. 😘
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Reni your writing is no less than the beautiful morning sunrise. And yes it’s very important to strike out the mistakes in our lives and to move on. Thanks for march and thanks to your writing we will ponder.
Stay Blessed.
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Learning as I go along and from the best, no less. Thank you for showing me the light when I need it. 😘
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Excellent Article. Great writing.
The Learning and the Pen! The ‘Writers’ Primary Tool !!! Well articulated!
Looks like we will see more of your writings!
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Absolutely, Ramesh. 😃
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Woooooow 👌 beautifully described abt the Sunrise. The same thoughts what i have every Morning, just look out of the Window nd watch the beautiful gift of god. The month of March is also the begining of the spring season, which means new life with full of fresh colours nd fragrance of the nature. keep us reminding all the beauties of this universe with ur awesome writings. The photo of that tree standing alone in the middle of the water is also so meaningful . thnks kindergaerten keep It up 👍
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Thanks, Cony. You noticed the lone tree..haha.
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Superb renu..you have a natural way with words. You just pour your heart and in fact we all relate to it in some way or the other.
Awaiting ur next article……great going!!!
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Thank you, Rajani. 😘
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Good One, very nice article, rightly said that everyday one has to start afresh forgetting abt all the negativity of the past.
Keep writing, waiting for the next one.
God Bless
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Thanks, Walter. Will post the next soon. 😃
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Beautiful as always, Aunty! So easily relatable!You keep surprising me with your work and it just gets better post by post. Unfathomable, how you manage to get such thoughts and how majestically you transform them into posts like these. Great stuff! 🙂
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Thank you, Jer.😘
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