The Battle of Waking Up

One of the most absolute and hardest thing to accomplish for some is simply just to wake up on time. I was the person who always hit the snooze button until I realized how much time I was chipping away at my day. I didn't want to get up or move. I didn't want to acknowledge that my day had actually started. I was in a state of denial when I heard the ringer. I had set my alarm to a soft lullaby instrumental and yet I still hated it. I wanted to forget that I had to get up and live out the day. That was until I discovered the power of waking up early. The benefits were great, the process was not. Thanks to a healthy dose of research on self improvement. I decided to divulge into this challenge. I was going to wake up at 6: 30a.m. every morning, no matter what! At least I thought no matter what. I wanted to show you my thought processes of that morning when I decided to change just one thing in my life..and let me tell it was a battle indeed.

6:30 a.m.: The alarm goes off. I hear the sound and immediately my body feels like weights and sandbags, I could feel my heart racing against my chest because anxiety always seemed to grip me tighter in the morning. Also my feet tingled, probably because I walk about 2 miles every day to and from the bus stop for work and outings. The disadvantages of not owning a vehicle in Utah, but a benefit to my health of course. I have always loved walking, but the low temperatures of January has definitely made me grouchy about it.

I have been reading and watching videos on self improvement, visualization and above all action! I've learned that if you get your body moving before your mind does, you can accomplish the world! However at this very moment of initial awareness I could only feel doubt surging in me. In the many books I've scanned, I remembered something very vital. You have to have a reason to do it! You have to have purpose. Drive. What was the reason you get out of bed every morning?

That morning my brain began a battle, and it was an enlightening experience. Here I was laying in my air bed in my darkened room before daylight. I struggled against the pull of drifting into sleep, which was incredibly strong. I couldn't help but feel its weight enveloping me into dreamland.I wanted to go back to the peaceful bliss where I didn't worry, where I could simply just be, still and silent, with the weight of world forgotten for a few hours.

6:32a.m. My thoughts drifted back to sleep. I craved it and it felt almost impossible to want to move. The feeling of resistance was almost overpowering. I had to act now or pull the covers over my head again and forget it. Suddenly a negative statement came from and center. "This is stupid! You have no reason to get up this early! Dumb! Dumb! Dumb! This has no meaning!" "Why are you doing this?" This thought awakened me. That's how powerful my negative statement was and in that moment I had to defy the odds. I couldn't just let my brain win this battle! This is what we deal with on a daily basis. That internal battle, that moment of doubt that can succumb us. We do have a choice. We can silence that negativity just by action. So with that I got out of bed in exhaustion, but not defeated. I had beat that moment of inaction. I had won the battle for today.

6:35a.m. By this time I had started walking around my room, preparing myself for a short morning routine of morning stretches and a hot piping breakfast. I felt empowered and enriched. It was a feeling of success that was small but warranted. All those self help books had been right, action is the true way to overcome an obstacle.

I want to challenge all of you to try this! Try getting up at 6a.m. or even 5a.m., hear those negative words and write them down the moment you're up! Remember the words of resistance and you can outsmart it. The battle begins with waking up, now let's win it.