Why I Love to Get Up Early in the Morning

If you are typically a “night person” who hates to get up early every day and that works well for you, I think it’s great! There’s no reason to change your lifestyle, especially if you’re happy with it. But for me, getting up early in the morning is a blessing. It has helped me become a better person in so many ways that I can never imagine.

There are many things that motivate me to rise early. I'd like to share a few of them with you.

The early morning hours are so quiet and peaceful: It’s my favorite time of day. I truly enjoy that time to myself, when I can think, when I can breathe, when I can dream. Mornings are the most productive time of day; at least for me. I do all my work that requires me to concentrate and pay attention to just work. There are no distractions; no cars, no television noise, no phone calls, and no door bells to answer.

Since I can get so much more done by starting on my work in the morning, when evening rolls around, I am free to spend time with family.

Best time to pray and say thanks for all the blessings: Isn't it strange that no matter how busy you are, you somehow find time to eat, sleep, work, go shopping, meet friends but hardly find any time to pray. Mornings allow you to connect with your inner self and offer gratitude to Him for even the simplest things that make your life worth living.

Mornings offer time to plan the day: Starting my day with extra time to plan it relieves most of my stress. I have experienced that a day well spent brings with it a sense of satisfaction that goes with me to the bed, hence assuring a sound sleep.

First meal of the day; Eat like a king: I’m told that breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day. When you have sufficient time for a good breakfast, your body is saved from consuming all the unhealthy stuff that you can lay your hands on the way to work, or at your work station. Also, when you eat breakfast while reading an interesting book or follow it up with a nice cup of coffee, it is even more enjoyable.

How important is exercise to you: I know and strongly feel that exercising right after work is very enjoyable and distressing but I’ve seen that it is more likely to be cancelled in the evening because of many activities that come up. An exercise regimen for the morning is however cancelled.

Just like I did, you too can discover your motivation to get up early. Like everything else in life, one needs some kind of motivation too to rise early in the morning. I love to have my morning tea in solitude, enjoying every sip of it, and thinking only about how good it tastes. I also like to write in the morning, so that’s another reason.

For me, an amazing end to the day is when you have been able to do some good work. The feeling of satisfaction and contentment that you get as you lie down and close your eyes is immense and cannot be compared to any other thing.

Having said that, I know it’s not easy for most of us to get up in time but I’ll be happy to share with you some simple but tried and tested formulas to make an easy shift...till then; Happy Sleeping!

Each Year I Wish...

Only two and half months left and year 2010 will be gone. It’s safe to say that this time around most of us have already lost focus of the resolutions that we had made for this year; a habit to break, a new skill to learn, a friend to meet, a career goal to achieve, or a broken heart to heal.

I can understand that it's always difficult to keep your eye on the ball for the entire year, but what is more challenging is to know what resolutions to make. We resolve to spend more time with family & friends, fitness, quit smoking, enjoy life more, cut down on wasteful expenditure save more, help others, get organized, etc. Anything in the list above is not a daunting task nor does it require you to place it on the top of your priority list. But even then we fail to achieve the smallest bit of it. Have you ever wondered why?

Let’s face it! We tend to see our resolutions as a problem that needs to be worked upon rather than a new and innovative activity that will bring fun, amusement, and a good change to our everyday life. When we do that, it looks like a tough job. You need time, attention, and effort to execute it and that too, on a daily basis. But only if you take it as an exciting opportunity to reach your goals while having loads of fun, you’ll look forward to doing it every day.

Let me give you an example. This is another one in the list of my “Moments of Truth”. Last year on my birthday, I got a careless hint to start working out to look and feel fit and energetic. Although the idea was wrapped in loads of compliments, pleasant wishes, beautiful greetings, and accompanied with wonderful gifts, it struck me right where it was meant to be; my heart, body, mind, and soul.

I silently made a resolve to myself and thanked this person for having triggered this dormant feeling inside me. I always wanted to do it but never felt motivated enough to do it. Don’t ask me why! Some activities seem more worthwhile than others so at that time I just resolved to exercise; not attaching it to the objectives like losing weight or becoming lean, doing it 2 hours at least, or following a strict diet and surprisingly, the whole thing took off very well.

I started exercising (brisk walking, stair climbing, doing stretching exercises and sun salutations) whenever and whatever be the time; sometimes 60 minutes or on someday just 20 minutes; at times 5 days a week and on occasions just twice a week. But it did not stop.

I have experienced that the starting point to being successful at achieving anything in life, including resolutions, is your expectations. I just trained my mind to work out notwithstanding the time and form of exercise. All other things like weight/ inch loss; diet consciousness, healthy eating, and sound sleep soon followed it.

The best part is that it gives me a chance to catch up on my favourite music and enjoy long brisk walks, thus disconnecting me from work stress. For me the trick is to look at the positive side of any activity rather than forcing myself to do something that bothers me. For instance; the idea of buying a one-year contract at the fitness centre in the hope that it will somehow drag me to the gym is an absolute no-no for me!

As I know it, resolutions provide us with an opportunity to assess our progress in life, which any day is not a bad deal. They cheer up our lives with exciting challenges and wonderful experiences to anticipate.

So the next time you promise something to yourself, think about it; just because you have never considered New Year or Birthday Resolutions as a wonderful means for creating new and exciting outcomes, doesn't mean it's too late to get into action.

And let me tell you that I have already committed myself to another interesting resolution that’ll translate my hopes into achieving one of the biggest goals of my life --- by December 31, 2010?

Thanks to my buddy, the past year has turned out to be the most amazing year of my life. So far So good!