What Happened When I Stopped Being A Morning Person
I’ll just be upfront and admit it: I slacked off. Yes, it was only a few short months ago that I wrote this uplifting article (well, uplifting for me anyways) about how great things became when I started being a morning person. And all of that is true. I was on a roll and enjoyed getting up early, being motivated and ready to seize the day all before 8am.
So, what happened? I’d like to blame COVID, but I started the whole “early bird gets the worm” thing during COVID. I’d also like to blame work because, as is its nature, my workload ebbs and flows and we had some big initiatives last quarter which kept me quite busy. I could also probably place the blame on a bunch of other things, like it’s summer so I should just chill and enjoy the nice weather or I was up a little late so it’s ok if I sleep in just this once. But the bottom line is those are all just excuses. And I really have no one else but myself to blame for slacking off. I just got lazy.
I would roll out of bed at 7:45 am and literally take 2 steps to my computer to log into work. And I would work for a few hours in my pjs (thankfully no video calls during this time) and finally get showered and dressed around noon. I stopped working out regularly, although I still took an occasional hike. But overall, I fell back into old habits. I felt sluggish, not motivated to do much, and certainly not ready for summer warm weather (no bikini this year folks).
After continually berating myself for being such a slacker, I finally accepted that it’s ok to fall back a little bit. And you know what? Falling back is exactly what helped get me back on track. When daylight savings came, that extra hour helped me get back in sync with getting up a little earlier (ok — I get it was the same time as before, but it still counts!). And even though I slacked on my calorie counting, I only gained a few pounds and was still able to fit into a smaller size jean. Yeah, I was shocked too.
But most importantly, here’s what I learned:
1. It’s not the end of the world if you take a couple steps back. Life isn’t always a straight line to the destination. Sometimes we just need time to do absolutely nothing and clear the mind of all the internal chaos. Enjoy the sun, smell the flowers, just be. Just remember it should be the exception, not the rule. Every day can’t be a cheat day. But it’s ok to give your mind and body a break every now and again.
2. It’s not a competition. The only person I’m in competition with is myself. I think growth is a natural part of life and stagnation to me is death. I’m not here to “keep up with the Jones” or whoever is the latest influencer on Instagram. I can’t judge my progress by the end result of someone else. My goal is to be a little better than I was the day before and if that means I didn’t go to Starbucks that one day, then I count it as a win.
3. Exercise is exercise, no matter what you do. I don’t need to be out hiking every day or hitting the gym just to get in my cardio. I found that any type of exercise or work, like volunteering at with a rescue, throwing hay and taking care of horses, was so much more fulfilling to me. There’s something to be said about how a little bit of dirt can cleanse your soul. So, don’t limit yourself to the traditional thoughts of exercise. There’s more out there than you know.
4. I understand my priorities. It took a potentially life-threatening emergency for me to really put my priorities in perspective. Yes, I need to take care of myself so I’m able to take care of my loved ones. But quite frankly, it doesn’t mean shit when you think you’re about to lose the love of your life. In that moment, I didn’t care what size jeans I had on, if I got up at 6:30am or 8am, or if I had walked 2 miles that day. What mattered is that I was there when needed and I understood that life was more than metrics. It was about connections and relationships. Period.
Do I still consider myself a morning person or not? Well, to be honest — I don’t really care. I’m doing what works best for me and it may not be the best thing for anyone else. And guess what? That’s ok. In a world where we can see EVERYTHING on social media, and EVERYONE has an opinion about it — does it really matter? Not one damn bit.
Of course, I’m going to keep trying to get just a little bit better than I was the day before. Although that seems like a lofty goal considering the holidays are fast approaching. But I’m still going to try. And I’m going to not berate myself if I slack a little bit, because it’s ok.
