For more than a decade I have begun my day,    i. e., my waking day or out-of-the bed day, between 5:30 a.m and 6:00 a.m. Actually, a minute or two before getting out of bed I say this prayer or its equivalency: 
        Gracious God, thank you for this day, for
         health and opportunity. I ask for your
         guidance. Bless your world. This is my
         prayer in the Name of Jesus. And so it is.

Just as my feet touch the floor I chant or sing (to music I composed for) these words from the "Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran:
                       Awake at dawn
                     with a winged heart
                         and give thanks
                             for another
                           day of loving.

While making my bed repeatedly I chant or sing those words.

Next I go to the bath room, wash my face and hands, and do whatever other bathroom acts I am urged to do.

Next I go into the kitchen and prepare breakfast. Usually, while preparing breakfast I listen to recorded music that I have composed or music composed by others that I am interested in memorizing or singing with refinement or increased beauty. During this time I may play  one or two songs over-and-over again.Three-forth of the time my breakfast consists of bran cereal and about one-fourth of the time oat or cheerios cereal, banana, one prune, one piece of toast with a teaspoon of jam, orange juice and a cup of hot tea.

When I sit down to eat the first thing I do is say aloud a grace or sing this grace that I composed:
             Let us sing grace before we eat.
             We thank you dear God for
             enabling us to  break bread
             together And for this food that    
             we are about to receive to nourish
             our bodies.
             Bless it to our use and us in your
             service. And so it is. 
                     (Although, usually I am the
             only person at the table I always
             feel that I am not alone because
             I am aware of the presence
            of God.)

Very often before I eat I chant or sing (to music I composed) the  One Hundred and Fiftieth Psalm, the last Psalm which says: 
    Praise the Lord. Praise God in his 
    sanctuary; praise him in his firmament;
    Praise him for his mighty acts; praise him
    according to his excellent greatness,
    Praise him with the sound of the trumpet,
    priase him with the lute and harp:
    Praise him with the timbrel and dance; 
    praise him with stringed instruments and
    flutes!
    Praise him with loud cymbals! praise him
    with clashing cymbals!
    Let everything that has breath priase the
    Lord! Praise the Lord!

Next, from "The Word For Today" booklet, I authored more than a decade ago, I say aloud the "word for the day" while at the same time focusng on the "theme word" for the month. The booklet contains 366 words and 12 theme words. The idea is to start the day on a positive footing by using a positive word before I eat. For example, the theme word for January is "Self-esteem" and the word for January 4th is "Kindness." On this day I will repeat "kindness" several times before eating. During the rest of the day I will consciously apply or express "kindness" in my behavor according to instructions in the booklet.

I eat my breakfast in silence although sometimes I will read or write down an idea that I want to focus on later. Then I wash dishes I have used. Next I go to the bathroom, brush my teeth and do whatever else I need to do before beginning the second hour of my out-of-bed day which consists of walking three or four miles five or six days a week, excepting Sunday.  

This is "how I begin my day," how I spend the first hour of my day, with few exceptions. This has been my modus operandi during the last decade and more.

Copyright 2012 by Uriah J. Fields