Up Before the Alarm

I am excited to wake up each morning and find that the sun has woken before me.

Not only have I been sleeping through the night (this 'habit' of waking up in the middle of the night and being unable to go back to sleep has been going on for the better part of the last four years of my life) ... but I've been waking up rested and rejuvenated before the alarm goes off.

I have been going in to work an hour early this week. School holidays means that I don't have my before-school-daycare-charge. My Youngest sleeps in, so I am gone and getting paid for my day long before he even wakes up. This means that I have the flexibility to come home a little earlier as well.

But it hasn't been work that has been forcing me up out of bed in the morning. It is anticipation about the upcoming day that propels me forward.

My Inbox has been a fun place to visit this week. I have been corresponding with a number of people and it has not been unusual to find an email message waiting for me first thing in the morning.

My early morning thoughts are light and easy. I have had the opportunity to sit and write before I head off to work.

I love the quiet of the early morning. I am thrilled that I am in a place where I leap out of bed in the morning instead of lying there hitting the snooze button, dreading the day ahead of me.

During the low spots of my life, I well remember slowly making my bed in the mornings and looking at it with a sense of yearning. I couldn't wait to put the upcoming day behind me so that I could crawl between my blankets of warmth, comfort and security at the day's end.

These days, as much as I love when my head hits my most-favorite-feather-pillow-in-the-world at the end of my day ... I am just as happy to plump up that exact same pillow in the morning, knowing that I have a full day ahead of me.

Waking up to the sun shining between the cracks in the blinds and the birds singing trumps waking up to darkness and an alarm.

There is no hitting the snooze button when Mother Nature is your wake up call!