The first thing you check when you wake up is the thing currently holding your leash.

REFLECTION

WHAT THIS MEANS

The thing you reach for before you are fully awake says something about what currently has authority over your attention. No decision is involved at that hour, which is why it is revealing, since habits show themselves most clearly before thinking starts. Whatever it is got that position slowly and without asking.

Try moving one thing ahead of it for a week, something as small as water, a window, or a page of a book. You are not trying to break a habit through willpower. You are putting something you chose at the front of the line and seeing what the rest of the morning does.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

What do you check first thing, before anything else?

MORE IN PERCEPTION & ATTENTION

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