Mornings

Today as I was swimming my laps I was also thinking about what I was thankful for today, what could I write about.
Then, it hit me.  I am so thankful for mornings.
Yes, I'm thankful for them for the "normal" reasons that they are the start of a new day, a new chance to get things done and another day alive and hopefully well.  But mornings mean more than that to me as well.
I'm actually thankful for the little internal alarm clock that I have that wakes me up between 4 and 5 am just about every morning.  Thanks Dad.
I'm not a morning person, at least not on mornings when I didn't sleep well, have a huge honking project at work that I've been avoiding, its gray out or any other myriad of reasons.  Just ask some of my coworkers what, at least used to, happen if they spoke to me before about 8:30.  They'd be lucky if they got a grunt of acknowledgement.
These days I'm much more friendly in the mornings, but that's because my mornings start a good bit earlier than they used to.  You see, I've always had this little alarm clock in my head, but after high school, I was able to usually convince it not to go off until about 7 or 8 on the weekends, 6 on weekdays.
Since Boo was born, my day has started at about 5am every day.  At first, I wasn't too thrilled with this.  But now, I really enjoy it.  Admittedly though, it wasn't until this past year or so that I've really taken advantage of the fact that my internal alarm goes off so much earlier than anyone else's.  (Well, other than Boo's some mornings, it looks like he has inherited my early riser tendency.

You see, mornings are my time for me.  Even, maybe especially, on days when I don't have to be at work until 8 I relish my time in the mornings.  No one else in the apartment is awake.  I can read, crochet, play on the computer, take my time getting ready for work, or in this past year get some physical activity in.

I have grown to love (most of the time) my early morning swims at the gym.  Just a week ago I made a major milestone.  I was able to swim an entire mile in under 50 minutes.  Today I did it in 45.  When I started doing laps instead of just my water aerobics, I was lucky if I could get a half mile done in 45 minutes and still be able to move.  Today, I got the mile in and thought about going a couple more laps slowly to cool down, but I had to actually get moving because not only did I have to drop Boo off at school, but I had to get gas as well.

Of course, this reminded me of the old Poor Richard saying by Benjamin Franklin, "Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."  Maybe my early to bed (most nights I can't keep my eyes open past 9:30 or 10:00) allows me to rise early.  Or maybe it's because I rise early that I go to bed early.  It seems to be a chicken and egg kind of quandary.  As far as making me healthy, wealthy and wise, well the verdict is still out.  In a way it has definitely helped me stay healthy.   I mean, with everything else going on in my life, it is so much easier for me to get a workout of some description in first thing in the morning.  And it really does set a great tone for the rest of the day.  Wealthy, well, anyone who knows me knows that as far as monetary wealth, I'm very short on that most days.  I am very wealthy in other ways though.  And wisdom, that I have in bits and spurts.  I'm a fairly intelligent person, but wisdom, true wisdom, is somewhat in short supply some days (although I do have a smidge more common sense than some...).

So, yes, today I'm thankful for mornings.  Not only for all the promises they hold but for the fact that it is when I can take an hour or two just for me.  To relax, get things done, workout or all three at the same time.  (Trust me, swimming laps while it can be physically demanding can also be quite mentally relaxing and invigorating, the same thing with a early morning bike ride through the neighborhood.  Unfortunately it's too dark these mornings for that.)

Peace to you all and may you find a special time of day just for you.

Oh, that picture at the top, that's one I took of a beautiful sunrise the last day I was in St Croix for work, shortly after I found out I was pregnant with Boo.  Two evenings before was the last time I called my Gram from the beach.  So, as beautiful a picture as it is, it is a little bittersweet as well.