I have been making a concerted effort to get up earlier the past couple of weeks. It has been going in fits and starts, mostly because, like anything, it takes a little bit to figure out what works. Here’s what works for me so far:
1. Going to bed way earlier than I thought I had to. I used to go to bed around midnight or 1 and then not wake up until 9 or 10. Now I am going to bed at 10:30 or 11 and waking up around 8. If you do the math there, you’ll notice this is because
2. I need 9 full hours of sleep on regular basis. Here I was thinking that I could do 6-8 and my dragginess in the morning was winter depression/laziness. It is actually because I need around 9 hours of sleep apparently.
3. I also take an hour or so to get ready for bed. Now, I try to start getting ready for bed around 10, which means I have plenty of time to brush my teeth and wash my face (and even moisturize) and put my clothes in the laundry and then relax in bed reading for a while before I drift off calmly. Contrast this to staying up until crashing, being too exhausted to do any of the above and then waking up with a gross mouth and to face a clothing-strewn room. No wonder I didn’t want to get out of bed.
So, while it hasn’t been happening like this everyday, I have been welcoming mornings more and more each day. I’m sure it also has something to do with the sunlight that is streaming in my room earlier everyday (hello spring! i want you to visit so badly!). This morning I even woke up at 7 after going to bed at midnight (I think getting enough sleep generally means that I can get less sleep occasionally) and finishing the setup of my meditation corner in my room before going to the gym for an awesome round of Nia. I then came home and relaxed, did some laundry, watched an episode of veronica mars, and then headed into work where I am now, feeling spunky and ready to take on the day of staff meetings and serving evening.
I even was able to deal with a phone call with my father (about his favorite topic these days: How His Financial Troubles Are So Bad That He Is Going To Have To Sell The House And Live In A Van By The River*) without crying, which is possibly a first.
Wait. Let me repeat that for myself. This might be the first that I responded to my father’s update on his own impending doom (which is both very real and near constant) without tears and hours of recovery. So while I was feeling very overwhelmed with the latest information, I was able to respond to him in a loving, detached way. And though I haven’t completely processed it entirely, I am feeling better having written this as well. Well enough to clean my office, make a big ole honkin list of everything I will get done this week (it will be epic!)
*I wish I was kidding
