A Good Way to Wake Up

I shamed myself into cleaning last night. And it wasn't awful.

Last Friday's unfinished cleaning had been haunting me for five days. Five days of that bathroom cleaner and rag taunting me , "I'm still waiting ..."; five days of the dust rag in the kitchen gathering dust. Five days, I stared those cleaning tools in the face and walked away.

I can't believe the energy it takes to avoid something. I love the energy I get by waking up and knowing that I don't have unfinished chores awaiting me.

I was spurred on to not only wash and dry a load of laundry ... but to do this early enough in the evening so that the clothes were put away before the night was over (I have gotten into the nasty habit of throwing a load of wet clothes in the dryer just before I go to bed at night).

I turned on the dishwasher (not a hard thing to do) early enough so that the dishes were put away last night.

I looked around the house before I called it a night and I was pleased. I knew that I wouldn't have any of these jobs waiting for me in the morning. Oh-what-a-feeling (in my old life, this was a habit).

This morning, my alarm woke me to the (exact) lyrics "Tonight's gonna be a good night!" (Blackeyed Peas). I hit my snooze button; let those good words roll around in my mind; remembered that I have a dance lesson tonight; and then I remembered that all of my chores were done last night.

I hopped out of bed with a gusto this morning. All the while thinking, "Tonight is going to be a good night!!"

This morning isn't too shabby either.