Let's Talk About Mornings!

I think we're going to talk about mornings for a few weeks. 

I know. I know. Me? Talk about mornings? I've lost my mind. 

But now seriously...who do you want to talk about mornings? One of those annoying people who love mornings and pop out of bed like they don't want to pull the covers over their head and go back to sleep? I didn't think so. 

photo courtesy of dan/freedigitalphotos.net

I have a love/hate relationship with mornings. I hate getting up. I hate being up early. It's not my best time of day. But I love getting a few things done before the boys are up and I love knowing that I've already gotten a head start on my work. And mornings are beautiful. I think that's why God made them that way: to help ease the transition to a new day. Even though I don't like mornings I am slowly implementing some methods to help me use them efficiently.

(And by efficiently I don't mean that I get up at 5. Kudos to people that do. But we don't go to bed early enough to get up at 5. And that just sounds miserable. Although I have had seasons in life where I have gotten up at that time I rejoice that I don't have to now!) 

Not all of these ideas work for every season. Pregnancy stage= sleep as much as possible but still get up to read my Bible. New baby stage= read at night when I'm up with the baby; sleep as much as possible. There are plenty of other examples as well. You have to adjust to what is going on in life at the moment. Life is constantly changing. 

But I'm not in any of those stages right now so I've honed my strategies a little. So far I have four topics to discuss. I may develop more or I might combine two of them. I'm not sure yet. 

1. Refocus

2. Game Plan

3. Jump Start

4. Benefits

Your rhythm will look different. Maybe you will exercise in the morning. I don't. I have before, mostly before having children. Maybe you will have breakfast with your husband. My husband doesn't eat breakfast. (Just for the note: I LOVE breakfast. I wake up hungry.) The time I get up changes every few months with the boys wake-up time and other details of life. It's the flow that I'm after. It's nice to be able to alter the rhythm to fit life as it is. A great plan only works if you can implement it. 

Flexibility is the name of the game, especially with motherhood. That's why I prefer the word "rhythm" to "schedule." Some days I get my whole morning rhythm done before my boys are awake. Sometimes I pull the boys into what I'm doing and carry on. Other times I throw it all to the wind and read books on the bean bag. 

I can always think of many more things I wish I had gotten done. I have to be able to say, "That's ok. We'll get to it later." I can't get hung up on expectations; that will cripple my ability to continue through my day.  The quote "Only God gets His to-do list done" really helps me in that area. This has been a learned skill that does not come naturally. Some people will have to push themselves to do anything instead of relaxing because they didn't do it all. We have different personalities that we are surrendering to God. 

One last thought. It's not that you do what I do. It's that you do what works for you and helps you fulfill your God-given roles. 

Are you a morning person? If not, can you tweak your mornings to help them work for you?