Drat the early bird. What's so good about morning? Why do people look so smug when they say how early they get up and how beautiful it is and how much they get done?
Okay, I know the psalms talk about praising God early in the morning. And I often do some praying then, usually because I woke up way too soon to the song of the birds or sooner and it's a good thing to do when I'm tucked up in my cosy bed and it's way too early to get up.
But sunsets are wonderful too and does it matter when I do stuff as long as I accomplish what I set out to do? And does it matter if I do it in my dressing gown against the cold morning, waiting for it to be warmer before I dress for the day.
Maybe that early bird is in her nest soon after sundown while I burn the midnight oil. Somehow no-one looks smug about working on into the night hours. Those who do are more likely to be pitied than praised.
Besides even the birds don't get it right. For years we had chooks and because we raised our own chickens (Oh, the miracle of seeing those little chickens emerge from the eggs!) often we had more roosters than was a good idea. Roosters are early morning birds, right? Not in our back yard as the neighbours would testify. In the middle of the night there would be a cockadoodledoo as our rooster talked to the one across the block. You could have wrung its neck - and eventually one of our neighbours did just that on our behalf.
So surely there are times that suit different people (or chooks). What works for one may not work for another and why should one be thought of as superior unless of course there is a risk of neck wringing rather than hand wringing.
So, I'm not an early bird and I love my mornings - preferably in bed, with a cuppa, a good book and the cat at my feet.
A slow morning in bed with a cuppa sounds absolutely wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIf there isn't time to do that because of work or family commitments, I find I do very much better if I can make myself get out of bed significantly earlier. It gives me more time to wake up properly without the stress and rush of a later get-up time...
- but when you are exhausted and stressed and not sleeping well and consequently inefficient and stuck in a cycle of late get-ups and stressful rushing, it is so tempting to sleep in a litte longer! Yet one of the things that actualy helps a lot is getting out of bed earlier: having time to prepare and sip a cuppa, meditate and even exercise a bit before hitting the busyness. At the other end of the day I am more likely to be in bed at a good time and to sleep well at night if I do this. - Well, sometimes, at least.
There you go. I do appreciate your sentiments and respect your own bodyclock hours... but sometimes being up early can be pretty much a lifesaver.
I appreciate what you say. My point is that whatever works for you is what is good and there is no moral superiority in getting up at the crack of dawn per se. I was targeting those who take the moral high ground about morning being the best time of the day. This morning I was awake very early and despite it being cold and dark I ended up at my computer doing stuff that needed doing. That was my choice today but I don't feel smugly superior to those who enjoyed the warmth of bed a little longer.
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