Exodus 90/Night 9: Nightly Examen

Starting your day with prayer makes everything go smoothly…

“A nightly examen is a way to review our actions throughout the day, acknowledge where we responded to God’s grace and where we chose to do otherwise”

I once heard a motivational speaker ask the crowd, “What does the perfect day look like for you?” Surprisingly, most people have never asked themselves that question. So now, I’m asking you, that first reader to stumble across this blog, “What does the perfect day look like for you?”

• What do you eat in the morning?
• What time do you wake up?
• Is the heater on or off?
• Do you have a cup of coffee first thing, go for a jog, listen to a podcast or hop in the shower?
• What time is your first meeting? (Is it a Zoom call or in-person)
• What are you wearing?
• Who do you see throughout the day?
• Do you have time to eat lunch?
• What time do you get home?
• What time do you have dinner?
• Who is home waiting for you?
• Did you call your mom? Did your mom call you?
• Did your best friend call you?
• Did your significant-other call you? Do you have one? Are they home when you arrive or do you get home before them?
• Do you two watch a movie or read after work?

And so on…it is a motivational activity that challenges the audience to visualize what the perfect day would look like. Perhaps, we have already had our ‘perfect day’ and perhaps we have had this perfect day more than once a year! Imagine that!

The exercise takes us away from the urge to complain about the many things that are bound to go wrong on any given day. It shifts the focus to the things that we are in control of, and most importantly, that we can replicate!

Success, it turns out…is nothing more than a few simple disciplines practiced every day. These few disciplines have a multiplier effect, they multiply the goodness in our lives and they have to start somewhere…for me that is prayer!

I started my day with prayer — 45 minutes of it. And I had what I like to call “a nearly perfect day,” it is as close as it gets to perfect, which is pretty damn good! Prayer. Coffee with her. Shower (cold one for Exodus 90 — at least I got it done). Walk the dog. On-time. First meeting. Prepared. Questions answered. Concerns followed up on, addressed, and resolved. Lunch, right on time. Ceviche tacos…yum!!!! Afternoon smoothie (even better!). No meetings in the afternoon just how I like it so I can get some work done. COVID Testing after work. Buy her a bottle of wine (make that two. because ya know, its a nearly perfect day, why not!) Walk home. She’s there. On the couch, with the dog. TV is on. Not the news. Cause ain't nothing on the news but the blues. TV is playing Kanye’s Sunday Service Choir LIVE (uplifting music). Time to exercise. My main homie calls me. We talk for an hour. Ain’t nothing shared by the good vibes. Walk the dog. He poops mad fast! Thank God! Back inside. Write this article…tada!

And that is what I call a nearly perfect day and I sincerely think it was made possible by PRAYER! By Him! By God! He gives a heightened level of peace and clarity that cannot be replaced by any other thing known to man. That is my truth. That is my success. And this blog, this nightly examen serves as an acknowledgment of that fact. Tested, Proved, and Polished!

So to you whoever is reading this — what does your perfect day look like? Have you given it much thought? And when you do, can you make sure that it starts with a prayer?

Amen †