When you can, set an alarm for nine hours from lights out
Sleep until your body wakes you up
Mine always does before the alarm
And it feels like
When you can, be by water in the mornings
A lake, an ocean, a river, an apartment pool
Water in its crashing or stillness
Takes me out of my body, into something bigger
When you can, sit still without distraction
No podcasts, no phone, no anything
But you (but me) and the boredom
We are getting to know each other again
When you can, spend time on what makes you happy
Stop books you don’t like, have your Diet Coke
Understand what brings your joy
And call it to you
When you can, spend time on what makes you grow
Move when you want to stay still
Learn when you want to shut down
Ask questions when you’d rather not know
When you can, give love how people receive love
In words or gifts or actions or touch or time
In leaving someone alone or bringing them in close
When you forget
When you can, be kinder than you feel
To the biker blocking the road
To yourself running into walls
In the worst days, you can still be this
When you can’t,
Sleep where you find it
Find gratitude in-between breaths
Promise yourself that you’ll see
If you can
Tomorrow