I admit it. I am not a morning person. I never have been. Honestly, my mom said that I slept through the night right away . . . and those of you with a couple of children realize that it isn’t a common occurrence to give birth to a baby that sleeps when you want to. :-)
I also admit another thing. I stay up late. I’ve been improving in this arena and have been working myself toward an earlier bedtime. More for my husband’s sake than my own (he gets up super early to get to work and would love to have peace and quiet earlier in the evenings), but it still has been having its benefits. The allure to staying up late is that it is undisturbed time. I don’t have any little people or any unfinished tasks (well. . . ) that are pulling at me or at my thoughts. It is just me. Well, it is usually just me and the computer. . . or the tv . . . or a book, but you get the point. It is quiet and it is “my” time.
However, back and forth I deal with convictions to turn things around in my life in this arena. I think that I could probably duplicate this “me” time by setting my alarm to ring bright and early in the morning and at that time I could get things done that I wouldn’t dream of doing while at 11 (or later) at night. You know, the things that you are aware of that ‘need’ to be done, but always manage to get squeezed out of your day?!? I know you know what I’m talking about, but for the sake of being crystal clear, I’ll enumerate:
- I could have a quiet time to read my Bible and to pray.
- I could plan what Today is going to look like.
- I could exercise (gasp!)
- I could take a shower without someone knocking on the bathroom door.
Wow. Wouldn’t that feel so much better than what my morning typically looks like now?! I’ll clue you in, although I am ashamed. The alarm usually goes off at 7 a.m. and I get up and walk over the phone (my alarm is set on my phone) and shut it off. Then I crawl back in my warm bed and fall right back to sleep. . . usually until about 7:30 but sometimes even as late as 7:45. Then I’m in trouble. I jump up and head right to the bathroom where I do my morning things – including splashing water on my face to wake me up further and brushing my teeth (I hate morning mouth . . . on me and on others J) Then I head out to the kitchen where I put on a pot of coffee and then make my high school son’s lunch (yes, I DO know that he should be making it himself at this age). Get my shoes on and help my son do whatever things he is scrambling to do. (Another thought I am having right now as I type this up. . . my son scrambles and has such a hard time in the morning too, and I’ve taught him to start his day this way, hmmm. . . I’ve got to work on that!) Then we are off to school. He drives and I sit in the passenger seat because he is trying to get hours in so he’ll be able to get his drivers license (oh my!) soon. We drop him off at school, where I switch back to where I feel I belong. . . the drivers seat, and I head home. Once home, I turn on the laptop so I can check my emails, etc. and pour a cup of coffee. Then I go from upstairs to downstairs to my children’s bedrooms to wake them up. I homeschool my grammar school children, and 4 of them need to get ‘to school’ now. The littlest one I don’t usually deliberately wake up at that point, but now that the noise makers are up it usually doesn’t take very long. . .
So then there is breakfast and clean up and school starting. consider myself lucky to read the two daily devotions that I signed up to receive each day (http://www.aophomeschooling.com/blog/daily-focus/ and http://internetcafedevotions.com/) and that it is just the way it starts. . . I’m doing dishes and laundry and all that comes with managing a home from that point on. Not much of a start, huh?
Now. . . WHY wouldn’t I make that change? I’m sure that my day will be so much smoother and honestly, if I did those needed things in my morning, I’d feel more accomplished before taking the oldest to school than I usually feel throughout the whole day most days, ya know?
I’ve been inspired by Kat over at Inspired to Action. Head over there and sign up for her RSS feed so that you can read her ebook (FREE!) called Maximize Your Mornings. I’ve read it . . . well, I’ve skimmed over it . . . and I know that it is what I need to read and implement here at the Garcia home! Won’t you join me?!? Check Kat's site out here: http://inspiredtoaction.com/ebook/
Tell me what your typical morning looks like and then tell me what your ideal morning would include. How far apart are those visions?!? Wouldn’t you like to take some steps to bridge that gap? Well, take them alongside me, because I’m going to give it a go. Check back with me next week for my update post on how my first week of “early” rising goes. . . .
