I was an early bird from age seven. Feeling energetic and bouncy, I would wake up before dawn rose on weekends. My parents never felt this way at 5:30 in the morning and I could not understand why. I would wake them up as well in hopes to get the day started. After realizing they weren’t so ecstatic to be up earlier on a Saturday morning than a Monday, I was taught and trained how to use a remote and to quietly creep downstairs to watch television.
Much to my surprise, very little was on at this hour, so I fell in love with explicit and freeform music videos of the early 2000’s on VH1 Jumpstart. As the years go on, I am still the wake-up call of every birthday and holiday and as a pizza bagel, a Jewish Italian, I'm still halfway done with my Christmas stocking and Easter basket well before 9 a.m.
As a 24-year-old there are many reasons why I have kept up my early riser routine. There are so many things that can be done with so little distraction from the outside world because they’re simply not awake yet.
I start my morning off with meditation, relaxation and a nice shower. In between, of course, I’m scrolling through social media, but I wake up at 6:20 a.m. to get to work at 7:45 to start work at 8:00 a.m. and give myself plenty of time to do all of the above.
On Fridays, I wake up at 5:10 a.m., meditate and start my day off with a gym session. I don’t think I have slept past 9:00 a.m. on a weekend either. From being a morning person, I’ve realized a love for a solid afternoon nap. I would rather wake up early, enjoy the relaxation of getting things done on my own time, including a 7:00 a.m. Weight Watcher’s meeting, completing my tasks with a celebratory 1 p.m.- 3 p.m. nap and still feeling excited because I have the entire day ahead of me.
On a related note, if I’m inspiring you to be a morning person, the first step is to be a morning person. Let me tell you how much more energetic my 7:00 a.m. Weight Watchers meeting is than the 8:00 a.m. one I used to go to. It’s honestly as drastic as a five-year-old on Christmas and a sloth after eating.
There’s something about being awake with only morning people that gives me a sense of accomplishment. At work, I get free range of the company's parking lot, within my tag color restrictions.
I eat my breakfast in my car and people watch from within. Reading an article from when I first started working, it said in order to make your day feel less work oriented, it is better to wake up earlier, do what you love and to give yourself that time. Make your morning a priority instead of work the first thing you do.
And for me, my favorite thing to do is eat in peace, people watch and write before work. From the bodies sweating on the treadmills to the people stretching to start their lunges, everyone has the same look and energy at the gym when I go on Fridays: “I’m here and it’s early, but let's f*cking do this.”
After I leave into the crisp morning air with my sweat beading on my body, there is no more rewarding picture to see than a sunset. It feels just as special, sometimes like the sun rose just for me, and only a few of us are grateful enough to catch the glimpse of the earth’s start of a day.
Being a morning person is a lot easier done than said. You heard me, done than said. I feel like our modern times idolizes a person who sleeps till 3 p.m. and refuses to get out of bed a minute before. Sleeping in is glamorized and seen to be the key ingredient to be well rested, but I have never seen it as that.
Meanwhile, anyone that wakes up before 10 a.m. on a Saturday is peculiar and strange. When I tell people that I don’t like to sleep in and I like to be active before the sunrises I get the same questions, “How do you do that?” “You go to the gym at 5:00? In the morning? No thanks, I’ll be sleeping…” But, in reality, all you have to do is wake up.
It takes energy, prioritizing and adjustments, but there are so many accomplishments in between. I love going out on a Friday till dawn and tell myself that I’ve been up for 24 hours. A beautiful sunset is a cure for any morning crankiness. Being late to work is still early for me when giving myself an extra 20 minutes.
To my fellow morning people, I guess no one really likes us except for us, but that’s okay because we're on different time schedules anyway.
