Growing Into a Prayer Habit and Befriending Milk Tea

I've started to find a rhythm of prayer that has somehow helped me get through the day.  Spending about 20 minutes of quiet time in the morning and 20 minutes at night has seemed to keep my emotions and thoughts well in order.  

On my way to work this morning I realized that the multitude of sensory stimuli that we experience everyday from Facebook notifications, to text messages, to phone calls, to and overload of emails, to human interactions, to environmental noise, and so on and so forth is enough to make us feel all clogged up in our ability to respond and digest it all.

Perhaps that's why we become irritated or annoyed.  Perhaps that is why we are never able to come to grips with ourselves when it is most needed.  

There are just too many things to think about.

Yesterday I was reading this article from Catholic Culture and it emphasized the value of having a really good prayer life.  I've come to understand prayer as what allows us to attune ourselves to the quietness of the moment and that gives us room to breathe.  It allows us to acknowledge the present of God.  The divine.  The Spirit.  

These little things can be anything we want to use—small triggers to which, with some effort, we can learn to respond by emerging from the business at hand to acknowledge God. Some people set regular alarms on their computers, cell phones or wrist watches. But others use the normal pace-changers of the day: Opening or closing a door, getting up from one’s desk, going to a meeting, shifting from one task to another, and so on. The key is to let something pull us out of our normal concentration from time to time so that we can take a moment to offer everything to God, ask his blessing, pray for any special intentions, or simply reaffirm our wish to live always in His presence. 

Practicing this awareness of God’s presence is always a work in progress. How easily are we distracted from our loving Father by responsibilities or even flights of fancy! How hard it is to be aware of Our Lord’s role in all that we are and do! Because of our tendency to forget, we may make a firm resolution to remember God at the start of our day, and then become so immersed in the requirements of our occupation that we emerge at the end of a hectic and taxing day only to realize we have not turned toward God even once.

It occurred to me that what this brings about, practicing God's presence, is an interior shift of orientation. Instead of being so overwhelmed with anxiety, it becomes a little bit easier to navigate through the burdensome feelings because of the hopeful thought that permeates your mind when you think that God is indeed everywhere.  Is with you.  Is for you.  

Today I woke up with an open heart.  Quite a breakthrough from the feelings of the past few days.  I am grateful for the awakening and I enjoyed the drive to work.  I decided to pass my secondary route which was through the small provincial towns of Cavite.  The sun was bright and quiet.  I liked how it casted its light on the greenery.  

Oh and my new friend today is this milk tea drink called Mine Shine.

drove by 7-11 this morning to get me 2 bottles of these