Morning People Do Exist

          Welcome to afitnewyou!  It has been a busy but fun summer so far for me, and it has involved some significant changes to my daily and weekly schedule.  These changes have caused a bunch of road blocks to me getting to sit and write. But set backs always have something to be gained from them if you look hard enough.  And the positive take I received from not being able to write as much as I would like due to my schedule changes leads me to this post's topic.  You see, my new schedule has provided me with the ability to sleep a little bit later into the morning.  But what I have found out, is that sleeping in isn't the best thing for me...I actually wake up more tired, and I have difficulty even wanting to get out of bed.  Part of the difficulty comes from probably staying up too late the night before knowing that I can sleep a little later, but the other part of it is well, bed is just so dang comfortable.  Yes, I know that there are "morning people" out there who can hop right out of bed and get on with their day as soon as the alarm clock goes off; I know because I am usually one of them during the school year.  But even those morning people cant argue with the fact that most alarm clocks come with a snooze alarm because a good number of people have a hard time rolling out of bed as soon as they wake up.  And here is where I see the analogy with getting to the gym to work on reaching your fitness goals.  There are some people who find getting to the gym to train as easy as morning people find getting out of bed to start their day is.  These people do exist.  But, a good number of people don't want to get out of bed right away, and a good number of people need the same additional prodding to get to the gym.  However, the positive take is that no matter how easy or difficult you find it to hop out of bed after that alarm clock goes off is, the vast majority of us eventually do get out of bed and get on with our day...everyday.  So the same needs to be true with getting to the gym.  Knowing you have to go is like hearing the alarm clock go off in the morning telling you its time to start the day.  Now you just need to find that same drive to get you to the gym that got you out of your bed this morning.

          Let's first look at that situation that happens to almost all of us the majority of our days  It's nice and quiet.  You are blissfully asleep.  Plenty comfortable for the last several hours.  Possibly in the middle of an exquisite dream when all of a sudden...BRAP, BRAP, BRAP, BRAP!  Apparently it is time to get up.  As already discussed, not that many of us are quick to heed the alarm.  Some will hit that snooze alarm once, or a couple of times.  Our reaction to having to get up is a bit funny in that it was ourselves (usually) who set that annoying alarm in the first place.  In fact, I know many of us will put a good amount of thought into what time that alarm needed to be set.  I myself will spend a good amount of time back tracking my morning trying to figure out the latest I could send that alarm for but will still give me enough time to do all I need to do to get to where I need to be for the day.  So why then the struggle to get up?  Because it isn't easy to start something that requires a good amount of energy while we are tired, or while we aren't feeling so good, or even because it will remove us from an uncomfortable situation.  It is harder to get out of bed if we haven't gotten enough sleep, and we are still tired.  It is harder to get out of bed if we aren't feeling good (particularly when not feeling well thanks to our own doings).  And it isn't easy to get out of bed when we feel so good being there.  I'm sure you will agree, but I hope you can see that this is where many people find the same hardships, which become excuses, to go to the gym.  Its harder to find the effort to get to the gym when you're tired, or when you're not feeling well, or you are simply comfortable staying put.  Fortunately the take home here is that as I said earlier, even though its sometimes not that easy to get out of bed, even for the reasons I mentioned, you do eventually get out and start your day.  Everyday.  The same way you eventually got yourself out of bed, is the same way that you can get yourself to the gym.

          The most noble way of answering the question of why does one eventually get up out of bed to face the day is to do something productive.  I was recently very motivated by my son's Tae Kwon Do instructor when he said we should all wake up anxious and opportunistic, looking forward to helping someone that day.  Very honorable!  But not the case for most of us.  I believe the majority of us start our day because we know that we have something to do.  We get up to feed the kids, let the dog out, go to school, go to work, tend to business, to simply do something.  But that something is something that we feel valuable and know is beneficial in the long run.  We also all know that laying in bed all day will not do much for us in the long run.  Yes, if you are sick and ill and need the rest then you should get it....just like if you have a significant injury you could take some time off of the gym.  But the reason we all get started and do it day in and day out is that we know it is much more needed, beneficial and profound than doing absolutely nothing.  So again, treat getting to the gym the same way.  Getting to the gym to exercise will be beneficial to you in the long run as well.  The same way you get a long term benefit of facing each day by not staying in bed, you will also similarly see results over time by getting to the gym over and over again.

          For morning people,. getting up and at 'em is an easy, or at least, needed thing to do everyday.  That type of person is like the gym goer who can simply go everyday because its what we all should be doing.  However a good percentage of people aren't morning people...again, alarm clocks are made with snooze alarms, and the drive through lines are pretty busy at coffee joints early in the morning for good reason.  But take heart and knowing that no matter how difficult you find it to get started in the morning, you eventually do, and you do it regularly.  Why you do it is different for everyone, but it usually comes with some understanding that you are much better for doing something rather than nothing.  Look at getting to the gym to work on your fitness goals just like getting up in the morning.  You might struggle with it, but once you do it, you will feel more accomplished and better about yourself about for doing so.  And doing it day in and day out will come with some long term, tangible benefit.  Tackling your fitness goals head on by getting to the gym everyday, the same way you overcome the lack of desire to get out of bed in the morning is a fresh start way to achieving a fit new you!