Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda...

I am not a morning person and never have been. It has always been hard getting up.

Even back in middle school and high school....I remember Mom coming in and waking us up, and I would just sit up in the bed under my covers not wanting to move. It seemed so hard to want to start the day.

In my 30's, I subconsciously hit the snooze button several times before it kicks in that "My alarm clock is going off"! And the only time I seem to never hit snooze and jump out of bed at the sound of the alarm is when I am getting up for a climbing trip! Imagine that!!! Or last summer when I started power walking tons of miles with my friend Anne. Knowing that she would be at my house, I would HAVE to be up and ready. Also, I started liking the way i felt to have walked 8-12 miles already before 10 am. I felt great and had the rest of my day to go still!

Anyway, now I have learned myself well, so I've started this new thing where I set my alarm clock for 10 minutes earlier than what I wanted to get up for. If I want to be up at 6 am, I set my alarm for 5:50. That way, I subconsciously hit snooze for 10 minutes, and then I suddenly realize it is 6 am and time to get up. It has been working.

However, I am still finding myself saying, "I really WANT to be able to go running at 6 am." I'm still not though.

I am no longer saying, "I wish I could get up at 6 am."; "I wish I could go run in the mornings before work."; "I wish I could run at 6 am."

No, I am now saying, "I WANT to run at 6 am." I started this for the new year 2011. I shall say I want versus saying I wish, or I should have, etc.

I have even taken a "sleep better" yoga workshop.

At the end of last summer, I bought a t-shirt from the yoga studio that reads, "I like who I am when I try." Some folks say you shouldn't try to do things just do. There is no try just do. Well, maybe in emergency situations where your life is at stake, there is no try...it's "must do". But for the rest of your life as it may be from day to day, if you never first try then you will never do at all. Right???

I tried eating Sushi again in 2007 and discovered that I really do like some of it. Now I am eating it. See?

I don't want to do things half-ass. How many things are you doing each day that are just half-ass? If you don't "try", it means you are doing it half-ass. You've got to really try! Really push yourself and want something. I really do like myself better when I try. It goes back to that old saying of, "How will know if you like something if you never try it?"

So every moring this year, I have "tried" to get up early to go run. It hasn't happened. But guess what? Other things have!!!

I snooze for 10 minutes, then get up at 6, and go to the bathroom. By then, my dog is barking to go out b/c he hears me. I go let him out and immediately go into the kitchen to grind my coffee beans and make a breakfast. I let my dog back in and feed him. It is now 6:15 or 6:20. Now I am awake. I still can't make myself go run. However, I load the dishes into the dishwasher or empty them, whichever. I put a load of clothes in the washer or take a load out of the dryer from the night before. Wow, I'm more awake now. The coffee is tasting good, and I find myself opening up my text book for school and I begin to study. It is now 6:30 or 6:45. I read and study until 8:00. I throw on clothes for work, and then I'm out the door. (Oh, I take my showers and stuff the night before...showers relax me, they don't wake me up)

Guess what? I have been getting to work on time. Wow! This never happens. I am always late to work in the mornings.

I'm getting all of this other stuff done in the mornings now, making some time for other stuff later in the day. I'm in a good mood at work when I get there and not still half asleep! My days are better...I get more done now than ever. I have more energy. And I'm falling asleep better and staying asleep. Feeling rested.

They say it only takes 2 weeks to get a routine in place. Mine was more like 2 months, but I'm getting closer to my goal.

I WANT to run in the mornings before work. It will happen.