Day One

I could not wake up this morning.  In fact, I have trouble getting out of bed most mornings.  I was so frustrated with myself today that I googled "how to get up when your alarm goes off" and found some good advice.  So, I took it.  Thus begins day one of the 21 day journey to being a happier, healthier human being.

I also remembered something that Jonalyn once wrote - I don't remember exactly where.  It was about will power, or what she simply called the will.  She was talking about the elements of the soul, if I remember correctly, and said one thing that has stuck with me since.  I am not going to get the words verbatim, but I think this captures the sentiment.  Every action we take strengthens our will in that direction.  In the context of forming healthy habits, every decision, every action, is the first step toward forming a habit out of that action.  The more I repeat the action, the stronger the inclination will be for me to repeat it once more until one day I wonder how I can snooze the alarm 17 times and still not get out of bed or have weeks where I tell myself my sleep is more important so I don't shower for three days in a row.  How am I not disgusted enough with myself to refuse to continue to live in this pattern?  How have I let it go on this long without bothering to strengthen my will in a different direction, towards different actions?

Well, it ends here.

Steve Pavlina's suggestion that I found this morning seems simple in words and no doubt more difficult in reality.  Practice.  Do your routine over and over again exactly the same until it is no longer a conscious decision but a habit.  So that's what I'm setting out to do.  After reading that this morning, I decided I should start now.  After my morning classes I came home and declared this Day One of forming better morning habits.  I started with my going to bed routine, so at 11:50 today I removed my makeup, washed my face, brushed my teeth, set my alarm (for noon), and hopped in bed.  I "slept" for about four minutes and when my alarm went off I hopped right back out of bed, turned it off, took a deep breath, stretched, yawned (gotta add in every detail, right?), and got my gym clothes on.  All the while, when I am looking at the clock, I am translating into what time it would be.  At this point, it was "6:05" and I got to the gym around "6:10".  Worked out until "7:00" and headed home where I showered, did my hair (I don't usually do my hair in the morning; if I shower in the morning my former routine was to let my hair air dry) and makeup (which I usually end up doing at red lights...), put in my contacts (which usually don't have time to wear), got dressed, packed my lunch for the day, ate some breakfast (mac and cheese today since in reality it was 1:45 in the afternoon), and got my things ready to go.  I need to leave the house by 8:15 most mornings, and according to my mental morning clock it was only "8:00".

I plan to do exactly the same thing tomorrow, only it will actually be morning.  Onward to Day Two.