I'm one of them. I'm one of those sunshiney people who gets up with the sun and goes for a walk, starting my day with exercise, outdoors and a smug feeling of superiority.
It's true. I'm that girl you see bouncing by, outside your window at 7:30 in the morning while you're still trying to figure out how you have pillow marks on your calves. I'm up, get a quick coffee into me, throw on some sweatpants and head out the door looking like someone who should probably still be asleep.
By 8:00 I've returned home, having walked 3 kilometres, my lungs filled with fresh air, my hands cupped around a hot cup of coffee, ready for the day knowing I am the sort of person other people are envious of. I am the sort of person other people aspire to be. I. Am. Morning. Person.
I've been on this routine for quite a long time.
2 days.
That makes me a Suzy Sunshine expert and therefore I have a lot of advice to impart on you - the bed dwellers, the late risers, the night owls and other immorals.
I was once you. 3 days ago. I remember it like it was yesterday. I'd go to bed very late and get up moderately late. 8:30 or so. I was at my computer working by 8:45 and generally would stay there until I either had to pee, eat something, or kill a centipede. I'd maybe walk around my yard or sit on the porch for 15 minutes just to get outside then I'd be back at my computer writing and editing photos.
I'm not in the habit of using my walking desk during the summer and fall - it's more of a winter thing for me. So a lot of days I'm quite sluggish. Not my guts. My guts are just fine. I can throw down when it comes to that. I just don't move enough some days to even feel human. This leads to blogger bod and blogger brain.
The condition is easily recognized; if you feel like your body is made of cement trucks - you have the affliction.
rare shot of me in restful, elegant slumber. basically a Princess.
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Therefore I've taken the drastic step of waking up and going for a walk early in the morning. Very early. Sunrise early. This is no small change of pace for someone who is regularly on speaking terms with 2:00 a.m.
I'm very very happy with my new routine and only plan to make a few minor tweaks.
- Go to bed earlier. Getting only 4 hours of sleep doesn't make you cooler, tougher or stronger. It makes you a deranged lunatic who has the focus of someone who just smoked 400 pounds of weed.
- Smoke weed. I think if I smoked weed I wouldn't have to go through all of this waking up early and walking business because so much of my time would be devoted to figuring out how to tie my shoelaces.
- Learn how to say Good Morning! I don't say that. It feels weird to me. Other morning walkers let that phrase roll off their tongue like nothing. I assume it's because they've had years of practice. I on the other hand am new to encountering people before lunchtime and what I usually reply with is a moderately frantic "My hair is normally brushed."
- Get out the door a little bit earlier. At my current time I'm forced to weave my way around school children on the streets and I would like to avoid this as I find them to be alarming in every way. They're very small, fast and unpredictable. Like centipedes in pants.
- Knock on people's doors so they can enjoy the fun of a morning walk too. I see nothing that could go wrong with doing that.
How has this waking up at an unGodly hour and walking for several kilometres routine changed my life over the course of 2 days? Well, I'm ready to go to bed earlier. By 2 in the afternoon. I've learned there are many many things you can do with your eyes closed because you don't have the energy or coordination to open them. Really the only good thing about it is I get to brag that I'm a morning person like so many morning people seem to do. But it's all a lie, I'm not a morning person, I'm masquerading as one. I'm fundamentally a vampire person. In my heart.
I've decided that I'll only do this morning thing during the week because even if I'm working on the weekend, I usually get a chance to go somewhere outside of the house like the garden or an antique market or auction. So I do have more of a chance to see the world and my beloved sun on the weekends.
Therefore Monday is my next scheduled get up and out day. That gives me two whole days between now and then to decide whether I can come up with a better plan to get me up and outside bright and early. I've toyed with the idea of secretly sleeping in a neighbour's car and just peering out their sunroof while they drive to work but more people than you'd think get angry when you break into their car even if it isn't to steal something. This is the level of political correctness our world is at right now. You can't even pop out of someone's backseat and ask them to stop at a breakfast burrito drive through.
Wish me luck on day 3 of my "get up and out" routine. Whatever it might be.
Have a good weekend!
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Korrine Johnson
Why fight your natural tendencies? I think everyone should embrace their most productive time window, and that’s different for everyone. I am naturally a morning person and everyone knows not to ask me out for a late dinner or a night on the town. They don’t always love that about me but hey...I am who I am.
Diane
Ha, ha, ha...you so make me laugh...thank you so much!!
Carol
I'm really not a morning person either, though on those rare days when I get an early start and get so much accomplished, I wish I were one. Love the picture and your cat curled up next to you!
Elizabeth Kelley
A big dog is the answer. I actually AM a morning person but even if I weren't I would be out the door at 7:30 ...because, well, a BIG dog. Everyone should have one.
Abby’s Mom
Karen, You need a dog! Mine are the best at sighing and wiggling and culminating with a paw tap. Save a life and get a life. My motto.
Vikki
I tried. I really tried. But, after, 70 years of trying EVERYTHING, it's time for me to admit I'm not a morning person. Hi, my name if Vikki. I'm a night person. Anyway, I wish you good luck on Monday.
(morning people get all the cred.)
Georgia Girl
Hey Karen! I love this story!
Since I am retired I can fulfill all my 9-5 Working Person fantasies like staying up to see the end of the baseball game or watch the Late Show and get up WHENEVER I feel like it, which is usually late (by MP standards). Sometimes I am awake early around 7:30 am but I read in bed until 9:30. Soooooo luxurious!
My only problem is scheduling lunch dates with my Morning People family who are ravenous by 11:00 and are the first people seated and ready to order by 11:30 and surly if thwarted. But for the sake of family togetherness I have become used to having a burger, fries and a beer for breakfast! I kinda like it 😀
I HATE getting up when it’s dark - that’s so depressing.
Benjamin
Is that picture really you? I don't see black nail polish, so I'm suspicious. I hope you have a fab weekend Karen and the Doing Stuff community.
SuzNKton
I followed the link to see what a walking desk was and am now ashamed to admit that there is no way I could ever be coordinated enough to manage it! Walking and typing at the same time? Nope nope nope.
I see a chiropractor and he has a bowling ball in his waiting room. He explains that your head is like the bowling ball. When your neck is not in the correct curve, your head exponentially weighs more and causes more problems. So it makes a lot of sense to have monitors and keyboards in the correct position.
As far as getting up early, I am a better person when i get up early. But I lack the discipline to maintain the routine of getting up early.
Jenny
Lol I have a newborn so I’m always awake 😂😭
Patricia Sheahan
No thanks! After having to work for 45 years and fighting my inner clock, getting up at 6:30 was akin to torture. It’s inhuman.
Retired, I can stay up to 2-3 AM, enjoying my world as it should be. I get 7-8 hours of sleep each and every night and couldn’t be happier.
I won’t prank call you at 2 AM if you promise not to knock on my door at 7 AM. Deal?
Signed,
The President of the Night Owl Cohort
Klair
This made me laugh. Laughing in the morning....crazy!
skye
karen! I just started following you a couple days ago, and sure, pickles are yummy, but THIS post = ME to a T! :D And I read some of the comments, and love that you are in to natural health (I have a bunch of health issues and try and pursue natural health solutions as much as possible).
I'm trying to get back into swing of things after a long health time-out and moving to a new town (oh, so many boxes!). I have actually started sleeping better lately and waking up to daylight naturally, which is lovely! <3 You have inspired me, and I am hoping to follow your lead and start going to bed a little earlier and it would be a miracle, but I may even try and take a ... gulp ... walk!
Looking forward to reading past posts and more fun stuff in the future! :)
Sabina Missana
Full-fledged MP here! Haven't set an alarm clock in over 20 years and never late to work. For the past 14 years I've been up and out for a walk at 4:30am in all kinds of weather to walk the dog, because he never learned how to use the commode! Believe it or not I encounter many other MPs on my walk - my neighbor across the street and his dog, and another fella who routinely says "boy, you and that other guy really are early risers!" every time I see him :)
My fall-asleep time is usually during the commercial between the Final Jeopardy question and the answer...
Jane C.
Good luck with day three. I will never be a morning person. If I must get up before 10, I ache, I'm tired, I feel sick sometimes to the point of nausea at the thought of eating. Fortunately my dog likes to sleep late, but if I have to get up, she has to get up too so I can take her out.
For years I started work at 7:30 and got up at 6. Fortunately I had a half hour at work by myself to ease into the day, so I didn't rip the face off the first person to greet me with a cheery Good Morning. The best I ever managed was "morning" - just an acknowledgement of the fact. Members of the two volunteer gardening groups to which I belong know I'm going to be late and just accept it. They're all cheery Morning People, while I probably shouldn't be allowed to have sharp tools in my hand at that hour.
Mel
Ha! I say 'Morning' also. Just a fact, indeed it is morning but there is nothing 'good' about it. I'm honest like that.
Bruce Cisco
You so funny! ;-) You had me going for a second until the day three thingy...
For the most part I am a morning person, usually getting up at 5:15 to go to spin class or get a workout in. I've been doing this for 30 years! It's how i keep my boyish figure. hehe
However, once per week or so, I will stay up past midnight watching TV or reading which in turn doesn't allow me to get to the gym. And Sunday is my stay in bed till 8ish day.
Good luck Monday and have a nice weekend!
Steph
As someone who used to get up at 5 am to be at work by 7 am, but is currently still in bed at 10 am (soon to get up, hunger is a harsh mistress), I feel this post!
Eileen
I think I am a "between" person. Bed around 10-10:30, read till 11-11:30. In summer I wake with a certain level of light (which can be very annoying, esp. those nights when I've been tossing and turning). As days get shorter I need the alarm to get me up at 7. This in no way means I am to be messed with, however. Washing, dressing, coffee...then maybe around 9:30 - 10 there can be some people interaction. If really necessary. Actually leave the house? Um, no. Except on Saturday mornings when I rush to the grocery store early because it's the only time there are parking spaces. And I need to replenish the coffee supply.
Sarah
karen! This is so very funny! Thanks for a really good laugh.Sirst thing in my morning, I might add. Got up late as I worked until 10, then can't sleep. . . the odd time I have to be up early for work. .it is beautiful outside at an early hour.
School children like centipedes in pants!
can't stop laughing!!
Mary W
You make me smile. I love you.