Jun 2: 🔅Living a Perfect Day

Celebrating the light of June.

Jun 02, 2024

The Spiritual Almanac is a weekly, free email publication based on the calendar that explores spiritual practices and mindfulness for modern living.

Letting in the light digital image of female sun.

The birds sing low, the birds sing high,
The lights of June are in the sky...
—Sara L. Vickers Oberholtzer, Days of June, 1892

With its outstretched days and abundant light, June beckons all of us to embrace its rays and bask in its warmth. It's a time of growth, renewal, and new beginnings as the world comes alive with vibrant colors and sweet scents.

The air bursts with the fragrance of blooming flowers, the harmonious melody of birdsong and bee buzzes, inviting us to immerse ourselves in the richness of life.

It's a month of fairies, roses, and strawberries, a time to indulge in the simple pleasures of nature. It reminds us to slow down, take a deep breath, and appreciate the beauty surrounding us.

As the 19th-century American poet James Russell Lowell wrote, "And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days."

But what is a perfect day?

Living a Perfect Day

Woman sitting in front of sunny window reading a book with bowl of nearby strawberries. — A perfect June day

A perfect day is not about grand gestures or extravagant plans. It's about embracing the present moment, finding joy in the little things, and being grateful for what we have.

It could be something as simple as enjoying a cup of tea on the porch while listening to the rain pitter-patter on the roof or taking a leisurely walk in the park, admiring the vibrant green leaves and colorful flowers.

When Matthew Killingsworth created the "Track Your Happiness" project as part of his Harvard doctoral research, he found participants did not engage with the present moment close to fifty percent of the time. That's half our lives!

If we're not in the here and now, where are we?

We're stuck in the past or future, missing what's before us.

Let The Past Go

Jacob Marley and Ebenezer Scrooge by Fred Barnard, 1878

How much time has been spent ruminating about the past, trying to rearrange scenes in your head? You wonder how life would be different without that bad choice. Why were you so weak? Maybe if you keep thinking about it long enough, you can free yourself from the past, correct it within your mind, even though it's been long dead.

Ebenezer Scrooge knew he couldn't change the past but could choose to forgive himself. He recalled his childhood, the greed and bitterness he learned from his father. But he also understood selfish choices didn't make him a bad person. By forgiving himself, Scrooge could move forward with joy and love.

The easiest way to forgive yourself is to remember this one sentence. Your inner soul will agree with its stark truthfulness, instantly eradicating guilt.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have done things differently.

Or, if you like to sing, you can recite the Rod Stewart Ooh La La lyrics, "I wish that I knew what I know now when I was younger."

As the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote in his 1843 journal, "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."

Stop Futurecasting

The Crystal Ball by John William Waterhouse, 1902

The second step for a perfect day is to stop futurecasting, which can cause anticipatory anxiety as we conjure scenarios that never happen. How do you stop thinking when your world seems to fall apart?

There's planning to do. Schemes to concoct. The what-ifs to worry about. You can't turn your brain off like a light switch.

Or can you?

When you go within and tap into the present moment, you enter the peaceful source of your being. There's a quiet knowing, an underlying intuition that knows what to do like a tiny planted seed.

Fear is a thought and has no power unless you feed it. Release all judgment of what you think will happen, who you're blaming, or why it happened. If you don't, you base your action on what you believe, obligating yourself to act out your judgment and creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when you predict or expect something to happen. Because you believe it will, you behave in a way that makes it happen. This can often lead to the ego-satisfying feeling of "I told you so!"

Instead of predicting what you think will happen, wrap yourself in the absolute truth you don't know. When you surrender to the unknown, watch your thoughts transform into light and love.

Living in The Light

Sunlight streaming through the leaves of oak tree by Lombroso, 2015

Let's live in the light this June. When you find yourself slipping into the past or future, snap your brain with an imaginary rubber band and return to the present moment.

Just notice the space around you for several seconds. What do you hear?

Are the sounds coming from within your head? Or are they appearing in consciousness on their own accord? Coming and going, arising and falling away.

When you allow yourself to rest, to sit in stillness, to let go of constantly being moved and shaken and attached to something, when you take a breath and simply exist in the present moment, just as you are, then you realize experience just happens.

Accept things as they are. Simply be. Live in the light.

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