3 AM Brain Dump

I started thinking about all the things I am grateful for.

Do you routinely wake up between 3 – 4 AM wide feeling awake and refreshed, after only a few hours of sleep unable to get back to sleep? This is called the Witching hour, when the veil between the physical and spiritual realm is the thinnest. Instead of “Doom Scrolling” on your phone, you can use that time for your most creative and inspirational thinking. You can meditate, pray, do yoga, qigong, or some journaling. If you don’t want to turn on the lights at that time, you can stay in bed in the dark and speak into your phone recorder.

Recently, I started recording my inspirations and thoughts at 3 AM during my awakenings, what I like to call, “My brain dump.” I started thinking about all the things I am grateful for. When I started, I had no idea there was so much that I just take for granted every day. The more I kept inquiring, “What am I grateful for?” the more things kept coming. I didn’t get back to sleep but I did have more energy and vitality the next day as I inspired myself.

What am I grateful for? I’m grateful for…

• Simple pleasures, a cup of tea and a good meal

• A day of rain

• The sun on my face

• Flowers

• Watching snow come down while feeling cozy inside my house

• Shelter

• Running water

• A Toilet

• A bed

• The safety I take for granted

• That no one I know has gotten shot

• A day when my city isn’t blown up by hurricanes, floods, and fires

• For living in the U.S. even with all our problems

• Examples of inspired leadership in the world

• Friends who bring good things to my life, new ideas, love, and laughter

• Family members who are still alive as well as those who have passed away

• The ancestors who came here decades ago, dealt with hardship and discrimination, and cleared the path for us to be here now

• The qualities I have inherited from my ancestors and those karmas they have passed on to me which is now mine to work with

• My cultural heritage and qualities I can bring forth in my life

• People who have known me since my youth and still love me warts and all

• For lifelong friends who’ve known me for decades

• My groups who help me stay steady in the light

• Teachers, healers, therapists and mentors who help me stay sane as well as my tormentors who help me realize we don’t have to all think alike

• People in my life who see my strengths as well as my vulnerabilities

• People who make me laugh and lighten my spirit

• For all the mistakes I have ever made that taught me how to walk a straight line

• For all the hardships I have endured that taught me how to live and be happy anyway

• Everything I’ve ever learned from everyone I’ve ever met

• All the experiences that I learned from

• For what’s been given and what’s been taken away so that I learn about the meaning of impermanence

• The wisdom that nourishes me during dark times and guides me on my path

• Days of wellness and feeling glad to be alive

• Deep replenishing sleep

• For the love that inspires me and keeps the flame of my heart alive

• For the ones closest to my heart

• Everything love has taught me.

• Opportunities to give back some of what I have received to the best of my ability with the gifts and the qualities I have in appreciation and gratitude

• For another day on planet earth

“What are YOU grateful for?”