There are two types of people. Morning people and everyone else.
I’m not a morning person. I’ve never been one even though I try to be. I make an honest effort every night before I go to sleep. I tell myself tomorrow will be different. Tomorrow, I’ll get up early. Tomorrow, I’ll stop rushing and will be like the people in the coffee commercials on TV. I’ll sip my hot drink while sitting on my porch and listen to the birds chirp.
Every evening before I go to bed I set several alarms on my phone and promise I’ll do better.
Like it’s easy. Sure, I can make that happen.
Here’s how a typical morning usually plays out:
6:30 am First alarm goes off. When trying to shut it off I accidentally knock everything that’s on my night table onto the floor. This often includes the cup of water I like to sip before I fall asleep.
6:45 am Second alarm goes off. I shut it off and my phone frequently falls onto the floor. I tell myself I’ll just sleep for 5 more minutes. It’s the best 5 minutes ever.
7:00 am Third alarm goes off. Since my phone is usually on the floor, possibly getting wet, I can’t reach it. I promise myself I really will get up in 5 minutes.
7:15 am Somehow I wake up long enough to realize it’s 7:15am. This is usually followed by a four letter word said very loudly. I nudge my husband and try to wake him up. He doesn’t move.
I drag myself out of bed. There are no more 5 minute intermissions to be had. There’s no time to waste. Every second counts.
I despise rushing.
It isn’t the way I want to start my day. I remind myself that tomorrow I’ll do a better job.
7:20am I go into my children’s bedrooms. They’re sound asleep even though they each have several alarms blaring into their ears. The don’t hear them. Waking them up is like waking the dead.
I understand.
7:30am I toss some type of organic food onto plates and finish packing lunches.
7:45am My children sleep walk into the kitchen and eat their breakfast while trying to wake up.
7:55am My kids leave for school. I send them out into the world with a smile and a good bye hug. It might be painful but I wrap them in my love.
8:00am I make a cup of tea, catch my breath and promise myself tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow, I’ll get up earlier. Tomorrow, I won’t have to rush.
I used to drive my kids to school but since my oldest daughter can drive, I happily get a pass on this.
I almost always wore my PJ’s when I drove my kids to school. Usually, I allowed myself time to pop in my contact lenses but only because I wanted to see. My hair was never brushed. Sometimes, if I had a little extra time, I would slap on a baseball cap. This was only when things were going exceptionally well.
I remember one time, when in the carpool line, I glanced in my rear view mirror at the car behind me and saw the perfectly showered, make-up applied, hair brushed woman dropping her kids off to school. I wondered what time she had to get up in order to look that good.
I wasn’t jealous, just impressed.
I accept myself for what I am: good at a lot of things but painfully not an early riser.
You have to know yourself. You have to know what you’re good at, where your strengths and weaknesses are and what you can do to push through when you tend to run a little short.
Focus on your strengths.
Don’t spend time dwelling on what you aren’t good at, put your energy where you shine.
And dear Lord, don’t judge the Mom in the carpool line wearing her pajamas. She’s doing the best she can.
Dara is an inspirational writer and speaker and founder of the blog Crazy Perfect Life.