As I have mentioned in my previous blog, meditating in the morning can set the tone for the whole day, which attracts your most high good!
I find evening meditation to be just as powerful and effective. When I settle down to pray just before ending the day, I go into complete gratitude mode and give Thanks for all that I have received in that day.
Even on what I considered uneventful days, I am surprised by all the magical moments I had forgotten about, or that did not completely register. It's stunning to realize, if I did not stop to review the day and look for every good thing, I would have been blind to the many wonderful blessings that actually happened.
It's so easy to speed through life, or to spend too much time thinking about what is not going right in your day. Many great spiritual teachers have said that thoughts are forces; we tend to attract what we think about the most. However, the Universe loves an attitude of gratitude and will reward it with more of the same.
To get positive feelings going I start by giving thanks for things like the warm oatmeal and the coffee at breakfast, my animals and relatives' good health, the person at the market that let me go ahead because I only had one item, an act of kindness I was able to do to help someone, how well my body performed during martial arts training ... in other words, just play the day back like watching a DVD.
Performing the evening gratitude prayer allows one to end the day by releasing the negative thoughts and going to sleep in a positive frame of mind with happy anticipation of more good coming the next day.
As Shakespeare said in one of his plays, "sleep knits up the raveled sleeve of care" -- it is vital to maintaining your spiritual and physical well-being. However, these days, any sufficiently aware and caring person will find it difficult to turn away from all the unresolved tension and trouble in the world.
If you are facing a challenging situation, surrender the problem to God, Infinite Intelligence, your Higher Self or whatever feels right to you, and give thanks that the Divine Right Solution will appear for the Highest Good for all involved.
By doing this, you will release feelings of unnecessary responsibility for things beyond your control because everything is being worked out on a much higher plane, and this will free your mind, bring inner calm and rejuvenation and provide complete rest.