Morning Mood

Afterwards, he considered it a blessing that the barking dogs woke him up, although it was well before dawn. If it hadn’t happened, he wouldn’t have experienced the bliss that now filled him. A dream had taken him back to early childhood, where feelings of joy, trust and total oneness had been hiding. His normal morning anxiety was magically gone.

He got up and went to the terrace. Filled with peace he sat there, watching how the first rays of sunshine slowly transformed the anonymous grayness into a colorful, beautiful garden.

A piece of music, Grieg’s Morning Mood, started playing in his head, and he remembered an early, quiet summer morning when he was still a teenager. He was walking home from a late party with a rising sun playing hide and seek with him at the horizon. Everything seemed different, innocent and fresh; as if without a past. He felt happier than ever.

This morning, more than 30 years later, the same connection was there. Feelings of joy and gratitude overwhelmed him, and he thought, “There is no outer reason for this sensation. It should be possible to return to it at any time, even in company. I only have to resist the temptation to enter into annoyance, anger, frustration.”

The door suddenly opened and his wife appeared. Without greeting him, she mumbled, “Those damned dogs woke me up again. I hate it!” Then, louder, “You should throw those pajamas away. They’re ugly!” And, with a groan, “My back is killing me. I think it’s the pillow.”

He looked quietly at her. Any other day, he would have joined her, complaining, arguing, finding reasons for irritation. But today, he simply looked at her with a warm, loving smile.

“Have you noticed the stillness?” he asked softly. “Have you smelled the fragrance of the roses? Listen to the birds!”

She made a grimace, turned around and headed to the kitchen to start breakfast.

“Patience,” he told himself. “She needs patience. And love. We all do.”

He got up from his chair to join her. She would need a helping hand.