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How to Wake up early: Trials and Triumph

“If You Want Something . Go Get It. PERIOD.” 
Chris gardener, movie: Pursuit of happiness

The story of all the methods i tried to wake up early regularly and how i succeeded finally
Struggling to wake up early

Breaking an old habit and making a new one is an arduous journey to undertake. If ever I have done anything tough physically…it has been getting into the habit of waking up early. For some waking up early is no big deal. But I belong to the slumber body. I just couldn’t wake up early. Now, don’t get me wrong the good intentions were always there. They were just not enough to get me off the bed.

wake up early
wake up call

It’s a herculean task to open those eyelids at 5 or say 6 in the morning. You know, only the eyebrows lift…the eyelids refuse to let go of each other. They feel swollen shut. You are very much still an actor in your dream play. So you are still wading with one leg each in dream and real world. Now, this is the zone you need to cross.If you happen to be snuggled cozily in your blanket in a darkened room with cold wind blowing from the AC, Boy! You are in trouble.

My early days

When someone says walking is all fine , waking up early is the problem. I understand that. Trust me I have been there. I faced this problem for a long time. I had this good intention of starting off on my morning walk for a very long time. However ,it was just not happening because of waking up late.

Every day after waking up late I would berate myself and then promise myself that I will wake up early the next day for sure. Oh! how easy is thy promise to fulfil 24 hr later. I would get charged up that tomorrow is the “THE DAY”. Making a full TO DO list down to the minutes. I would sleep that night all motivated. But alas! the calling from the yonder of a shrieking alarm cannot break you from the embrace of deep sleep.So, I would end up waking up again at my regular time having dutifully switched off even the snooze. Sigh! yet another cycle of self reprimanding  and motivating and planning.

Action plans

One day I realized enough is enough, got to get my a***off that bed. So, I come up with the master plan. After consulting google of course. I drank 3 big glasses of water at night before sleeping. Well you get the idea right? By the time my morning alarm rang I had already woken up thrice in the night to use the rest room. Needless to say, I woke up super irritated ready to punch the next person I laid eyes on. So, PLAN 1 failed.

 Next, I tried moving the alarm to the next room. Google experts told me so. If you have to wake up and walk to next room to switch it off, you would have crossed the zombie zone. Guess what I narrowly missed getting a black eye from other people in the house. Cause everyone heard it BUT me. Plan 2 fails

Next, I tried sleeping on a bare mat on the floor. You see google was targeting the cozy blanket part. It worked alright but a bit too early. I woke up in the middle of night with so much bodypain that I sleep walked to that cozy blanket and got into an even better sleep than usual. Plan 3 down the drain or sleepy lane shall I say.

Desperate measures

Then I tried my last resort. The most dangerous of the lot. I asked my dad to wake me up. He asked me, Are you sure? He had an amusing look. But I was determined\. Determined enough to put my hand in the lion’s den. Cause you don’t tell your dad something and back out. I had just closed the fire escape. So Yes! dad did wake me up in the morning. Not in a very subtle manner. Loud enough and assertive enough. So, I woke up. You would think I would be excited about finally making it. But hardly. I woke up sullen with dad berating me for being so lazy and how in his childhood waking up late was unheard of. So ya you can say I didn’t use that service again. Plan number 4 a big NO !!

Next I tried mom. You can see I don’t give up easily. She would be more gentle and persuasive. Our last resort is always mother. Period. So, the big day arrived…. exactly at the time it always did. I asked my mom why didn’t you wake me up? Well I tried but you just didn’t move. How many times can i call you? I called you thrice and gave up. I got angry with her. Well you can always try tomorrow she said. There we go ! How do I tell her TOMORROW is the bane of my existence which never gets converted to today. Plan 5 Zilch !!!

Now you can see it was not for want of trying that I Couldn’t wake up.


The Learning curve

Through all these funny and not so funny episodes I realized that its only ME who is losing out on something so precious. Ya! Loads of people have written about advantages of waking up early.All my heroes and heroines. I very much wanted to be part of that league. The morning people’s league that I mentioned in my previous post. You can read it here  https://musingsmorningwalker.com/league-of-morning-men/   .

If you have sailed in a similar boat you should know that it’s a process in the making. Making your brain inches by inches day by day tuned to the right frame of mind. By the end of all your episodes your brain would know that you want it badly enough. I am sure there is some study done on this process somewhere. Anyway there does come a morning and trust me on this one. When your eyes would open and your ears will listen to that alarm. Your legs will swing off the bed and you will finally break that adhesive bond to your bed.

THE TRIUMPH
beautiful sunrise
Glorious morning

The glorious day arrived for me. I walked slowly to the bathroom washed my face, brushed my teeth. Had a glass of water. Changed to my walking attire. FINALLY tied those sneaky shoe lace that have alluded me for so long. You should have seen the smile on my face that day. It was plastered all through the walk.  To a passer by I was smiling for no reason. But I knew it was a moment of personal triumph. I suppose that is how it feels every time we overcome our demons our fears our inadequacies. And it feels damn good.

So for those of you who do want to wake up early and are struggling with it, I would say don’t give up trying.Every single day strengthen up that mind. The war is not over yet. I still find it difficult to wake up on cold mornings. But I know now its only my WILL that needs to be strengthened. “Where there is a will there is a way”.Y Trust me, your BIG DAY WILL COME. Just don’t give up easily. I will leave with words of wise lincoln

 “I am slow walker but I never walk back”

abraham lincoln

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The First Step

I can’t exactly remember when I started my morning walks.. but I do know that having once started and pursued it through the initial few weeks, it became my morning coffee…

First Step
The first step

Walking is a hobby thousands of people around the world pursue. Yet, for every single person who is into this habit there are at least a thousand who are not. I know, cause the park is mostly empty in the morning where I go. It’s a fact that it is one of the healthiest hobbies to pick up. Yet, somehow most people are not into walking. To see why? Let’s start right at the beginning…
So, what makes a man/ woman get up or not get up in the morning? Right from my childhood I have been a late night person. I would always tell my friends I have seen 5 am from the night end and not from the day side of the clock. For my exams I could sit as late as possible in the night studying. But, I don’t remember ever getting up early to study. I loved my early morning sleep so much. That is primarily the reason why most of us are not able to take the habit of morning walk. I shall tell you guys about my hilarious attempts on waking up early in a later post. For now, lets just enlist the reasons. There are scores of people who don’t feel motivated enough to wake up in the morning. But the catch is, the habit in itself is motivating i.e only one who has pursued it through the tough first few weeks (oh ! they are tough) knows that once you are in the groove you get addicted and get motivated from within.
Another prime reason is late nights. There are lots of people who are in the habit of sleeping late. Either they come back late from work or house chores are piled up or Netflix is simply too good. Let’s not forget our online alter ego. If one sleeps late its difficult to catch up with the sun. So that’s a big hurdle to cross.
There is a major working population who, must leave home early so can’t afford an early morning walk. For them an evening walk is always a good option. I have tried those too. It may not have all the benefits of morning walk but most of them still hold good.
There are few people who simply can’t leave home, whatever may be the time. Reasons could be many. But, even for those people, 20 min of “my time” engaged in exercise or meditation inside their home is helpful.
The biggest HURDLE of all is the same which stops us all from doing anything challenging in life. “The Will”. I am no expert. But take it from a person who devours inspirational books that no person, no book, no inspirational quote can catapult you into taking up any habit. The sheer inertia of morning sleep is pretty tough to overcome. The reasons for not taking the habit often outnumber the good ones in our head. So, what do we do ? YOU JUST HAVE TO MAKE UP YOUR MIND. Yes ! That’s the only thing between you and your sneakers. Your own mind. Whatever works for you to take that first step, TAKE IT! There is no one technique or mantra which works for all. BUT ONCE YOU START DON’T STOP UNTIL YOU HAVE CROSSED THE 2 WEEKS MARK. Not even on weekends. Let one weekend be late night free. Trust me you will thank yourself for trying this one out. Cause it would open your eyes to a different world that you never knew existed.
Just Do it (says nike too ! )
Here’s to the first step. Cheers !