Every morning I get out of bed and make a pot of green tea. I listen to the birds when they wake up at dawn and watch the garden as the sun paints the sky. It is a delicious moment of serenity and promise for the next day. It is a brief and sacred moment that reminds me of the miracle of being alive. It fills me with gratitude and happiness.
Such is the nature of ritual. A dedicated practice that is enjoyed for its own sake, in the service of a higher intention.
It differs from a habit which is simply repeated behavior for an intended result.
Habits are a functional means to an end; rituals are a delightful means of a function. Habits are about results; rituals are about experience.
When you turn 100, if you are lucky enough to have a century on the planet, how do you want to feel about your life? We don’t end up with a happy life, a fulfilling life, expecting things to be “that way.” The quality of our life comes from the accumulation of moments, which we deliberately choose and fully experience. This type of approach requires more than just clothing; he needs the honor that comes with ritual. Here are three ways to enhance your personal leadership through carefully crafted rituals.
Casper Ter Kuile has a lovely book called The power of ritual: turning everyday activities into moving practices.
As I read through your suggestions and stories, I was struck by the sense of wonder and awe that comes from the practice of incorporating rituals into everyday life. Life is an exhaled breath, and I don’t want to waste a moment.
1. Rituals of reflection to honor our thoughts
Through reflection, we can integrate aspects of ourselves and our experience. Instead of bragging through one day after another, we can make sense of and learn from our daily experiences.
Some rituals to keep in mind:
- daily. Share your concerns, your questions, your joys, your observations with the page. Clarity often comes through expression.
- Read (sacred or inspirational texts and ask what this means to me). Allowing thought stimulation and the space to connect the dots in your own experience creates new insights.
- Draw or sketch. We all see the world through different lenses. Drawing can help bring it to life.
- Audio recording of your ideas. Capturing out loud on a voice recorder is the non-writer’s alternative to journaling. It offers depth of energy that the written word often cannot.
Make connections between experiences. Review your progress and development over time. Celebrate the small and big victories.
2. Rituals of Renewal to elevate our leadership by doing
The more aware of where we are in the moment, the more amazing the experience becomes. Here are some ways to make the ordinary extraordinary.
Saturday: take a break from technology for a period of 24 hours each week (or longer) to be present. Manage your life with a complete approach: laundry, cooking, resting. This allows the brain to decompress, to integrate experiences, without a constant barrage of stimulation.
Foods: Although I wasn’t raised with a religion, I find the practice of pausing before a meal to express gratitude and appreciation for the food and all those who grew, processed, transported, and prepared it is a wonderful way to indulge with abundance. . It is a way of paying homage to all those invisible hands that help keep us healthy and alive, and to food itself for its sustenance.
Meditation: I have had a regular meditation practice for six years. The consistency of doing it has made it even more rewarding over time. The stillness, the peace, the tranquility that comes with it, makes it a reverent practice.
Exercise: While exercise may seem like a chore, if we choose to dedicate our training to something bigger than just ‘because I should’ or ‘because I need to improve my body’, it becomes a celebration of life. I often dedicate a run or workout to existence, grateful to have a body with which I can move and experience the world.
3. Rituals of Contemplation to deepen our sense of being
Nature is a source of awesome. Spending time simply observing the natural world is a wonderful gift. In my garden, I am always amazed at the timelessness of natural cycles, as well as the fragility of individual living beings. It is so beautiful that it brings tears to my eyes in wonderful ecstasy.
Rituals help bring joy to the mundane, helping us savor every moment, big and small. What rituals could you adopt to bring more pleasure to your daily world?
***