Here’s to Inspired Mornings

Are you a morning person? I have a confession—I’m not. Oh, I spent 44 years getting up early for work, but now that I’m retired, early rising is not on my agenda. And I don’t feel real apologetic about that, because I’m most productive in the late evenings. I guess I’m not going to be “healthy, wealthy, and wise”—sorry Ben Franklin!

Just so you know, though, I can get up early when I need to. When I took care of my granddaughter while her mom and dad went to work, I was up by 5:45 every morning. The sun wasn’t even up for half the year!

Last summer my daughter dragged me out of bed around 6:30 every morning to walk the dogs for a couple of miles before it got hot in this 90-112° Central California summer. But that’s not my natural inclination, much to my early-rising daughter’s chagrin. And yes, I do understand that at least 80% of you are probably rolling your eyes because you always get up that early. Enjoy those early morning hours for me! 😉

Sleeping in is underrated

These days, when that proverbial rooster crows, I’m more likely to throw a bedroom slipper at him than to get up. And I have a love/hate relationship with alarm clocks. My parents could tell themselves the night before that they needed to get up at a certain time. Even if it was 2:40 a.m. to start on a trip long before sunrise, their internal body clocks would wake them up at the correct time. Always.

I don’t have one of those internal clocks, apparently. So if I need to get up at a certain time, I set my alarm on my phone and wake up gently to softly chiming tones. I set it earlier than I actually need to be up, so that I can hit snooze a couple of times before I climb out of bed. It’s amazing how deeply I can sleep in those 9-minute snooze increments!

Waking up is hard to do

When I was young, my Dad used to sing cheerfully and loudly in the mornings to wake us up. Songs like “Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory!” And “Oh, what a beautiful morning!” These were music to my ears. My sister, who shared a room with me, wasn’t quite so enthusiastic about it. She preferred a softer, gentler approach.

Recently I spent the night with my daughter, and their little chiweenie decided to wake me up. She put her tiny paws on my bed and yelped a piercingly loud wake up call in my face. I’m pretty sure I hollered and my arms and legs flailed before my heart resumed its normal beat. I’m awake! I’m awake! 😂

I know people who got the shock of cold water splashed or spritzed in their faces in the mornings. If that happened to me, I would be a grump all day! Or some people delight in turning a bright light on. That’s such a jarring way to rouse one from the billowy clouds of sleep, in my opinion. How did your folks wake you up when you were a kid?

It’s helpful if you want to get a head start on your morning to take a minute to maintain your state of total relaxation. That’s why I like a gentle chime or the radio (easy listening) waking me up, so I wake up still relaxed. Focus on and appreciate the coziness, sinking deep into the comfy mattress. (I know, it would be easy to slip back into sleep, but resist! Resist!) Then do a bit of stretching before you get out of bed to get the kinks out and loosen up your muscles.

Morning inspiration

No matter how—or when—we wake up, it’s been said that inspiration is the thing that excites us when we wake up every morning. Every day brings new opportunities to focus on finding inspiration in your daily life. If you start out each day in a positive and optimistic mindset, you can create inspirational moments. And through those moments, you can become an inspiration for others. That sounds like a lovely little platitude, doesn’t it? But is it real life? Can it be?

Stress vs. Inspiration

I’ve been prepping a private Facebook group for women who are living in overwhelm and seeking stress relief. It’s made me think about the relationship between inspiration and stress. Do you think that inspiration is compatible with stress? I believe inspiration can be elusive when you’re dealing with daily stressors. And don’t we all deal with daily stressors? So how do we reconcile the idea of embracing inspiration if we typically start the day knowing there is a boatload of stress waiting for us almost as soon as our feet touch the ground? I’ll be dealing with that in an upcoming 5-day workshop. Let me know if you want to know more.

There are things that help when you are overwhelmed or feel like nothing is going right in your life. One is simply the knowledge that tomorrow is a new day. Cue the soundtrack to the movie, “Dave,” where Sigourney Weaver, in a thin, uncertain voice joins Kevin Kline in singing “Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow! You’re only a day away.”

The thing about tomorrow is that today is the tomorrow of yesterday. So let’s back up that soundtrack and realize that today—each day—is a brand new day, a chance to have a new beginning, to start again.

A New Day

It’s like waking up each morning with endless possibilities for things to be better than yesterday. Beyond just putting yesterday behind us, we can welcome each new day with hope and enthusiasm. And one of the things that can help us be in that optimistic frame of mind is to get enough sleep.

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.
J. B. Priestly

Get those ZZZZZZZs

According to SleepScore Labs, getting enough sleep can reduce stress by calming and restoring the body, improving concentration, regulating mood, and helping you make decisions. You can solve problems and cope with stress better if you’re well-rested. You’ll typically have more energy and mental clarity, and you can deal with negativity more effectively. If sleep is difficult for you, I will offer some suggestions for better sleep in a future post!

It’s much harder to be optimistic and inspired when you don’t get 7-9 hours of sleep a night. If you are an early riser, make sure you get to bed in time to get a good night’s sleep. Having enough sleep can make the difference between having an inspirational day and having a stressful day.

The emotional energy you build up with sleep is one tool you can use to be able to handle the stressors thrown your way each day. If I get up late because I haven’t had enough sleep, I might find myself rushing around to get ready or get things done. That can immediately take me from that state of relaxation and inspiration to a state of stress before I’ve even faced the day.

Blessed

Even though I like my sleep, if I schedule my sleep time so that I can get up earlier than I need to, I often find myself more relaxed all day. This makes space for inspiration and appreciating the good things and people God has placed in my life. The peaceful time in the morning is a great time to stop and count your blessings.

I love when little children pray at meals and thank God for every little thing they can see or think of—the food, the salt, the fork, the napkins…children learn how to be thankful from us! My granddaughter thanks God for everyone of her friends and relatives in her nightly prayers. You may think this is a ploy to stay up longer, but I prefer to think of it as coming from a heart overflowing with gratitude. Maybe we should start listing every little thing and every person in our lives to develop our own attitude of gratitude.

”Each day is a new day; a day to start with positive actions based on the blessings you have. A new day to recognize and give thanks that each and every blessing you have may be one or more or all that other people can only dream about.”
Byron Pulsifer, Are Your Blessings Visible

Thankful for YOU

Count your blessings. Look for and focus on the positive, the good things that are happening in your life. If you want, start a gratitude journal and write your thoughts as you reflect on yesterday and plan what you want to accomplish today. Write your plans for the day down—we are more likely to do things we write down. Prioritize and take one step at a time to avoid overwhelm. You’ve got this!

Break your Fast

While we’re on the subject of morning, eat breakfast! It really is the most important meal of the day, just like Mom said! When our daughter was visiting last year, she made oatmeal every day and I got in the oatmeal-for-breakfast habit. Much better than the granola bar I had been used to (and was growing tired of). And hey, it’s heart healthy, right? Breakfast is especially important if you have health conditions such as diabetes. You also have more energy, are more alert, and your brain works better if it’s fed!

Getting off to a good start—an inspirational, positive start each day—has so many intangible benefits, such as health, better organizational ability, a calm state of mind, and energy. And one more scientific fact about getting enough sleep—you look better!

Your turn

Are you an early riser or a sleeper in? What is your most productive time of day? Let me know in the comments below. If you don’t get my emails, I’d love for you to sign up so you don’t miss a post. I post about every 10 days, give or take. ☺️ And if you’re interested in my new group, I’ll let you know soon how to join, or you can comment below and let me know you want info!