What does early mean to you? Does it mean, 7, 8, or 9 a.m? Or does it mean, 4, 5, or 6 a.m?
I have never been a good sleeper. In fact, more times than not I find myself feeling all sorts of jealousy towards my husband that can fall asleep in 6.7 seconds, and could probably sleep through a freight train crashing through the house.
I have never been able to sleep past 7 a.m. Not sure why. Well, actually I have a good idea as why this is, but it's not scientific or anything. When I was a small child, I had a horrible time potty training. My mom would wake me at midnight every night, to sit on the potty. Then, when she would have to get up for work, (around 3:30 a.m.) she would have me sit on the potty again. Needless to say, I was potty trained long before kindergarten, but this is probably where my early riser status had its start. When I was in 7th grade, so...13 years young, a neighbor hired me to be his farm hand. This meant waking at 3:45 a.m to get to the barn around 4 a.m. for early morning milkings. I would milk between 80-100 head of cows, and get home just in time to shower, eat a quick breakfast, then catch the school bus for a full day of school. The school bus then had me home by 3:45 p.m. which was just enough time to throw my backpack and school clothes on the floor (no joke. I was such a messy child!), have a slice of toast, and put on my "farm costume" to get to the barn by 4 p.m. for the nightly milking. I'd get home around 6:30, and if I were honest, I'd do homework and if I were dishonest, I'd say I didn't have any, and head off to other extracurricular activities or youth groups activities. If I did have extra activities, I'd like to be home by 8 or 9 and head right to bed, as 3:45 came awfully early. If I didn't have extra activities, I was in bed between 8 and 8:30. I'm 41 years old. I like to be in bed between 9 and 9:30 and I still wake up at least twice a night between midnight and 4 a.m. to potty. TMI? Everyone pee's. It's all gonna be ok. You can keep reading. Or don't. I'll never know.
After I started #myforeverjourney, I decided since I get up early anyway, why not start my day off doing something other than watching recorded episodes of Jimmy Fallon. I have been... on purpose...alarm set and all... waking up at 4:45 a.m. for the last 2 years. And if I have a "sleep in day," my alarm gets shut off, but I'm up at 6:00 anyway. Sometimes earlier.
So, waking up early is a habit. Being a parent myself, one of my goals is to raise my son to be a good person. I hope to instill in him, good habits. Things that will make him be a stand out human, and member of society. Like, for instance, being honest, a hard worker, not a murderer, those types of things. I know my Mom sorta feels bad that I can't sleep throughout the night without waking. We've talked about it several times. But to her, I want to say "THANK YOU!" Thank you for instilling in me from an early age, a good habit. And, I'm not a murderer either. But just know, I enjoy waking up early. It's quiet, and I get to start the day off doing something good for myself!
I've had people ask, "How do you get up so early?" The answer is obvious, and comes of quite sarcastic. "I hear my alarm. I open my eyes. I shut if off and I GET OUT OF BED!" I NEVER hit snooze. I will NOT, or as I call it, "won't power" allow myself to rationalize going back to sleep. My habit is to shut off the alarm, no surprise here but, go potty, wash my hands, wash my face, brush my teeth...BOOM! AWAKE! It honestly takes 2 minutes and I am awake enough to face the day!
Waking up early for me is a reward. My reward used to be to sit and watch Jimmy Fallon without interruption. Now my reward is to avoid as much of a crowd as possible (cause deep down I hate people, haha.) Ok, not people per say, but CROWDS of people. I enjoy going to the gym in the morning and seeing the 20 or so faces I've come to recognize at 5 a.m. vs the 120 I might have to deal with at 5 p.m. And honestly, I LOVE getting home from work and knowing that my workout is DONE! And if I wanna, I'll do some other sort of exercisey thing, and if not...Eh. In the afternoon and evening, now I get to take advantage of some extra time. I enjoy creating healthy recipes. Experimenting in the kitchen, I get to work at weight watchers in the evenings. I enjoy a church calling that takes time away from home. I have time to help my child with homework without feeling rushed to be finished so I can get to the gym before the 5 p.m rush. AND...while dinner is baking, or broiling, or steaming or whatevs....I get to watch Jimmy!
So, find your meaning of early.
Enthusiastically
Appreciate,
Reward, and
Love
You
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