Amiel, the Swiss philosopher, wrote in his journal that “the morning air breathes a new and laughing energy into the veins and marrow. Every dawn is a new contract with existence.” The dawn, Amiel said, is a time for projects, for resolution, for the birth of action.
Early to bed, early to rise is good advice whether you arrive home tired out or not. It is, for one thing, the classic physiology. Were we to follow our body rhythms, those circadian cycles, it would be the normal way to spend our alloted, unchanging 24 hours. The gradual buildup in our physiological function and then the gradual decline, the flooding and ebbing of the tides in our body, are matched by our physical and mental activity. The closer we get to following the rhythm of the earth, the closer we get to our own internal rhythms.
Early rising puts us in harmony with those rhythms. It is truly a great beginning. Early rising followed by an early morning workout is an even better one.
– Dr. George Sheehan
Last week I restarted a theme here on an unfinished person called Motivation Monday, where each Monday I write a post based off a quote from Dr. George Sheehan, especially from the book titled Dr. George Sheehan on Getting Fit & Feeling Great. The book includes three books: How To Feel Great 24 Hours A Day, Running and Being and This Running Life. I might also include quotes from other running gurus such as Jeff Galloway and John “The Penguin” Bingham, from time to time. I hope this will help motivate not only myself, but also you as we both start anew each week.
So my first thought on today’s quote from Chapter 2 of the first book, “On Planning,” is that ironically I read this at about 8 a.m., at least an hour after I should have been up and running, literally, at least every other day. I also know that I committed to this previously: in 2007, in 2008, in 2009, and have failed for a lack of follow-through. So what is different this time? Nothing. However, unlike what I’ve tried in the past, I am not committing to a specific schedule of x, y and z to follow after I awaken. That I have learned just doesn’t work. All to which I’m committing is to work toward getting up an hour earlier each day than that to which I have become accustomed. For me, that means 7 a.m. and then doing some kind of exercise, walking/running every other day, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and stretches/other exercises on other days. So yes, it does mean x, but the y and z just will naturally follow and spring (an appropriate word at this time of year) forth from there, whatever those y’s and z’s might be
This also means that it might not happen overnight and might have to be done incrementally. In fact, on this first day of my new plan, I already have failed by awaking at 8 a.m. and not exercising yet. That said, I will continue on and do better tomorrow, because I am a work in progress, because as Sheehan once wrote, “Each one of us is an unfinished person in an unfinished universe.”
For further reading on getting up early, here are a few sites I have had bookmarked for years and plan to use to help motivate me:
Maybe they also will help motivate you.
