Morning People: What’s Your Problem?!?
Morning people hurt my heart. I can’t wrap my brain around somebody opening their eyes to start their day before the sun is shining bright in all its glory. Why, oh why, would one want to pry their eyes open when it’s not even light enough in the room to see the light switch? Why would one want to get ready in the dark, having to be quiet as not to wake up the rest of the house? Seriously, morning people: what’s your problem?
Morning People: What’s Your Problem?!?
My brother is this way. He prides himself on the fact that he wakes up before 5:30am, and gets his day started early. He has his fancy coffee, quiet time, and goes to the lake to paddle board before the sun has even kissed the skyline. His family (because they are smart, in my book) sleeps in until about 6:30am.
He is the one who always advocates that early risers are more successful in life than those of us who sleep the morning away (He read it in some book, or saw some article about it online.). I will hand it to him, he is successful at his career as a graphic designer. He has the energy, and the time, to get more done during daylight hours than some people get done over a three-day time span. He does things like mow the lawn, take the kids to a plethora of after-school activities, fix things up around the house, and they even eat together as a family every single night.
He also is the kind of person that can’t sit still. He was hyperactive as a child, and there is a good chance this bled over into his adulthood (No hating here. I wish I had his level of energy!). However, he is usually in bed and asleep by 10pm.
Then there is me. I’ve never been good at mornings. If I’m going to see a sunrise, it is because I’ve stayed up all night, and just happen to catch the glow start to peek over the horizon. Sunrise signals bedtime for me. I’m good if my eyes pop open before noon. It’s possible I’m part vampire.
Does this mean I am less successful at life than my morning-loving counterparts? They may say “YES,” but a say, “I’m a success!” It’s true, I don’t have quiet time in the morning, my kids don’t go to five hundred after-school activities (but, to be fair, I don’t know that they would anyway), I don’t have a whole lot of time for fixer-upper projects around the house (That’s what weekends are for, anyway!), and my family doesn’t sit around the table together at suppertime every night. Yes, it might be good if we did some of these things, but that’s just not us as a family.
My husband works a retail job that isn’t conducive to a set schedule. Sometimes he leaves the house at 4:30am, sometimes he gets home after midnight. I, on the other hand, find my mind works better after 11pm. I’m in a brain-funk all day if I try to switch that up. You can’t write in a brain-funk, and writing is what I love. My bedtime is sometimes 4am, because that works for me.
My kids don’t suffer. Their bedtime is still at 8pm, and I get up with them to send them off to school (before I go back to sleep) every school day. They still play, have chores, get disciplined, and have just plain kid fun. We still go to the park, and we still take fun trips. They still eat three meals a day, it just may not be the whole family together every time. That just makes the times we ARE at the table at the same time even more special.
Mornings aren’t for everyone. If you are a lover of the night, like myself, don’t let those lovers of the light bother you. You can still be a functioning, successful member of society. You are just successful a little later in the day.
