Some people like waking up and some people don’t. I’m a morning person so it doesn’t seem to bother me much. I have a little routine that I follow that seems to work pretty well.
The first thing that I do when I wake up is look at my clock. It generally reads sometime between 2 and 4 AM. I try to fall back asleep but it doesn’t work. I feel the desire to pick up my phone and look at what Facebook has been doing for the 4 hours I’ve been asleep, but that seems to be a waste of time to me so I’ve taken to writing blog entries. After writing for an hour or so I feel ready to fall back asleep (thank goodness). I have another set of dreams which are generally not too dissimilar from my first set. My dreams most often are very realistic.
I’ll wake up again sometime between 5:30 and 6:30AMThere is no going back from this point. At this point the mind in groggy and doesn’t do a great job of thinking. I spend a few moments thinking about the dream I just woke up from and have to tell myself that it was all a dream. It’s imperative to really let this sink into my brain because there have been times in the past when I have mistook sequences in dreams for reality. This only leads to confusion and embarrassment.
I also usually have some sort of great idea when I wake up (I’m not sure if this is related to the dreams that I have). “Gonna start a revolution from my bed.” I’ll sit there and think about how I will put this idea into motion and fix the world’s problems. Luckily, by the time I reach the shower I realize that I am not a swash buckler and that the great idea that I had is really pretty lousy. Damn you dreams.
At this point I’ll look over to my clock again. My clock is set for 6:30AM I haven’t heard the alarm in weeks. Is don’t know about you guys, but beating the clock and not having to hear that god forsaken beeping sound is about the best start to a day that a man can ask for. I quickly reach over and turn my alarm clock off. Already one victory and the day is only minutes old.
To make sure that I don’t fall back asleep, I turn on the TV and scan for something good to watch. Between 5 and 6 in the morning this generally winds up being Married….with Children or Full House. If I’m in luck in might find a better program, but it doesn’t really matter. As soon as I settle on something good to watch, I get out of bed and go take my shower. Finding the TV program is kind of a waste, but it’s part of the routine so it stays. As a side note, this can really bite you in the rear. Today when I left for my shower, Full House was on. When I returned it was Dora the Explorer. I hate Dora the Explorer.
I won’t go into detail about my showering routine. You probably don’t care what brand of toothpaste I use (Crest for that fresh feel!). When all of that is done, I head back to my room and get dressed for the day (jeans, short sleeve collared shirt, safety shoes). As they say, the engineer’s wardrobe is outfitted by JC Penny. Oh well. I don’t get visitors to my apartment anymore, but I still make my bed and straighten up every morning. A clean room is a display of self discipline – something we all can never have enough of. I switch off the TV and look around the room to make sure I’m not missing anything. I fold my little blanket and place it on my desk. I’ll sit at my computer and read through the blog post I wrote in the middle of the night. Sometimes I make some changes, other times I don’t. I’ll post the entry. I turn off the AC and my fan. I’m ready to go. I read my card. I leave my room.
I don’t eat breakfast or drink coffee at my apartment. On my way out I grab a few pieces of fruit to eat at my desk. Since I don’t get up at any particular time, I don’t go into work at any particular time either. For instance, today I wound up at work an hour early. In the car I call my parents and chat for a few moments. It takes me 12 minutes to get to work. Once I arrive at work, any hope of routine goes out the window.
Why do we follow routines? Is it easier for us? Clearly, there are some things that I do in the morning that I could probably cut out. I won’t change it though. Routines are comfortable. Even the biggest risk takers crave some level of consistency. For me it just seems like the only sensible way to start off each day. Each day is a gift, it would be a crime to not start it off properly.
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