Speaker 1: Us studious. Good morning, dear quiet friend. There is a
Speaker 1: soft place to land before the day asks anything of you.
Speaker 1: The world is just beginning to stir. The light is
Speaker 1: changing at the edges of the room. Somewhere a bird
Speaker 1: is testing the first note. And you are here, still warm,
Speaker 1: still held by the night that is slowly letting go
Speaker 1: of you. The blanket is soft against your shoulder. You
Speaker 1: are not yet behind on anything. You are simply here.
Speaker 1: I want you to know something small and true. This morning.
Speaker 1: You have a friend who has been with you through
Speaker 1: every single morning of your life. This friend does not
Speaker 1: need you to be anything. This friend does not check
Speaker 1: the clock or compare you to anyone. This friend is
Speaker 1: simply glad you are here, breathing, arriving, returning to yourself
Speaker 1: one more time. This is the part of you that
Speaker 1: wakes up and quietly says, here we are again. Here,
Speaker 1: We are in a body, in a bed, in the
Speaker 1: room that is still mostly quiet. Here we are ready
Speaker 1: to begin, and we do not have to begin with doing.
Speaker 1: We can begin with being. Sometimes we wake up and
Speaker 1: our first start is what we have to do. The
Speaker 1: list is already waiting at the edge of the bed.
Speaker 1: The day is already pulling us forward, and we forget
Speaker 1: that we were ever sleeping. In all but before the list,
Speaker 1: before the poll, there is this a breath, a friend,
Speaker 1: a small sacred landing right here in a body. Your
Speaker 1: quiet friend is not in a hurry. Your quiet friend
Speaker 1: has nowhere to be and no one to please. Your
Speaker 1: quiet friend can sit with you in a bed for
Speaker 1: one more minute, or two or three, and the whole
Speaker 1: world will not fall apart. The morning can wait for you.
Speaker 1: It has been waiting for you all night. After all,
Speaker 1: it will wait a little longer. So stay a little
Speaker 1: longer if you wish. Let the day begin from this
Speaker 1: place of companionship, not from a place of catching up.
Speaker 1: Let the day begin from rest, not from reaching. Let
Speaker 1: the day begin from this soft, steady presence that has
Speaker 1: been with you longer than anything else in your life.
Speaker 1: Notice your feet under the blanket. Notice the way your
Speaker 1: shoulders have softened over night. Notice that you are breathing
Speaker 1: without being asked, That your heart is beating without being asked.
Speaker 1: That you are alive in the most ordinary and most
Speaker 1: miraculous way. That is your quiet friend. That is the
Speaker 1: one who loves you most reliably, the one who never
Speaker 1: goes anywhere. Whatever to day brings, you are not walking
Speaker 1: into it alone. This small, steady presence is going with you.
Speaker 1: It will pause with you at the coffee. It will
Speaker 1: breathe with you in the difficult moments. It will rest
Speaker 1: with you when you finally come home and take off
Speaker 1: your shoes. It will whisper to you in the middle
Speaker 1: of the night when you cannot sleep. It is yours,
Speaker 1: It has always been yours. To day. Let your first
Speaker 1: kindness be toward this friend. Let your first word, even
Speaker 1: if it is only in your mind, be gentle. Let
Speaker 1: your first movement be slow. Let your first sip of
Speaker 1: anything be taken with attention. There is no rush. You
Speaker 1: are held, you are accompanied, You are already on your
Speaker 1: way to wherever you are going. Good morning, dear, your
Speaker 1: quiet friend. Let us begin slowly together