Waking Up

Even though I don't have a job where I fill out an IRS form and clock in and out, there are certain things I'm routinely doing to foster a regular workday attitude for myself. One of them is getting up the same time every day. For me that time is 6:00 a.m. I want you all to stand up and clap for me because this is not easy! Waking up has never been easy for me, but especially hard when you don't have that external motivation of a job to arrive at.

It works something like this. The alarm goes off at 6:05 a.m. (as it says on the digital clock, which is set five minutes ahead to psych myself out). I roll out of whatever position I am on the bed and usually don't add any new bruises to my hematoma collection. I turn off the alarm, sit on the edge of my bed and bemoan my existence and the horrible cruelty that I have to be up this early. Eventually the need to urinate asserts itself, and I toddle off, platypus-style, to the bathroom to sit on the toilet, where I often fall back asleep.

Is this much different than what most nocturnal heavy sleepers do at 6:00 a.m.? Probably not. But it's still a commitment and it's still something I do every day and I do it because it's easier to get work done when you're awake. So I want credit, damn it! Amen.