One Game Changing Thing I Do Each Morning

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I picked up this habit in 2020 as I had excess time on my hands. At first, I considered it a luxury and once life started to go back to 'normal', my mind started to tell myself that this was a bad habit!!! 

I am not a morning person. I never have been. I want to be one so badly. I try my very hardest and have tried so hard for many years. I want to be that person that easily wakes up at 5am and works out and can be done working at like 3pm and goes to bed at 9:30/10. I want to be the person that can happily function on 5 or 6 hours of sleep. I want to be all of that SO badly!!!!! But I'm not. I am really not. 

I'm more of a wake-up at 7/7:30 and workout between 9 and noon and go to bed at like 10:30/11. I need a full 8 hours of sleep to be at my best but I'll gladly take 9 hours of sleep if I can get it. I've always been a bit ashamed of this if I'm being totally honest. 

But, there was a turning point in my thinking a while ago. If I am afforded the time to get the sleep I need, isn't that amazing? Why should I be ashamed of that? What a luxury, right? Isn't it a wonderful thing that I know myself enough and what my body needs to function at its peak? Yes, it is. 

So while I still want so badly to be the early riser, get the first and freshest donut, and out walking my dog at 6am, I've started to accept who I really am in this sense. 

I'm not trying to force myself awake at 5am anymore. Instead, though, I reward myself when I'm earlier to rise. On mornings where I wake up 'early' (for me, at least) I give myself a set amount of time in the morning that is meant just for me. It's usually anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour depending upon what I have going on that day. 

I get up, stay in my pajamas, make my coffee, sit in my big comfy chair with Henry and the green blanket, and simply 'ease into the day'. 

Some mornings, I turn on a show that I have been loving and zone out with my coffee and the show. Like Bewitched! I love watching old favorites like Parent Trap or Father of the Bride as they always inspire me. 

Some mornings, it's a working morning (but never on my actual computer and never at my desk) where I sort through my emails, make a to-do list, check DM's, etc. while sitting in my big comfy chair sipping my coffee. This is actually what I prefer/choose to do most mornings, to be honest! 

Some mornings, I sit there and use the entire amount of time to just aimlessly scroll through TikTok. 

Some mornings, I take some time to stretch. 

But during this time period, I don't set goals or an agenda. Every morning is very similar but never the exact same. If I just wanted to sit in silence, I would allow myself that time to do so. 

This has completely changed the way I feel for the rest of the day. I find that giving myself the time to really wake up, and do something I enjoy while also fully relaxing and entering the day at a slower pace helps me to focus and be more energetic throughout the rest of the day.

I have started to love this so much that I truly have started to wake up earlier and earlier to get more time like this to myself. For example, I've had a few early morning flights in the past few months and normally, I would wake up at the last second to get ready and get to the airport. But, now, I've found that I will wake up with enough time to spare to have my 'morning time'. 

It's certainly a luxury- time is a luxury, isn't it? But if you can afford to give yourself the gift of time, I am telling you, you absolutely will not regret it. 

I relish my mornings. I look forward to them. 

I think one of the biggest things that I have noticed is that it allows me to focus on smaller things in life. I always notice how much I appreciate how comfortable my pajamas are. On chilly mornings, I love Henry's body heat radiating right up next to me. In the spring, the silence in my house mixed with the birds chirping outside is like a symphony. I love the scent of my coffee and the sound of it brewing. I love the warm mug in my hand. I love the green blanket and how it brings a sense of nostalgic comfort. I look around my house not in a critiquing way (like I so often do), but instead in a way that makes me grateful for the home that I have created. It gives me time to just think about my friends and family. I'm able to give Henry full and undivided attention. It's the definition of peaceful for me. It gives me that slow time to really appreciate and be grateful for all that I have while also continuing to be motivated to do my best once I have finished with my morning time. 

It's truly something so small but it has changed my life and perspective for the better. 

The world is fast and quick changing. I have many times drowned in that 'go, go, go' feeling. I've always bought into that 'you have to be busy 24/7' mentality. There have been times when I have felt guilty for this morning time as it is not necessarily productive in the sense that I am accomplishing anything big or checking off my to-do list. 

As I get older, though, I no longer feel like I always need to be keeping up with everyone and everything. I think being busy isn't the secret to life happiness or even business success. I care much less about being busy but instead being better at managing my time to better myself and give attention to my work, my family, and my friends. 

I noticed that I used to love getting compliments from outsiders because I'm always seemingly 'busy'. Basically implying that I must be working so hard. I no longer strive for those comments. Not because I'm not a hard worker or not busy but just because I personally know myself. I know I'm a hard worker, I know who I am and what I need and what I personally value. I don't really need that outside validation any longer or need to pretend I am anything other than who I am. 

There is not a huge point to this post but as someone who is not a morning person, I often feel like the entire world is only morning people and I am the only one who is not. So if you are not a morning person, I hope this makes you feel a little less alone in that and maybe this is something you can implement in your mornings to create a better day for yourself!