More in the Mornings

"The Privilege of Morning" by Bridgette Guerzon Mills

Brrr, it's getting cold here in Buffalo! This morning when I woke up to shuffle over to Panera it was
F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G... I had a scarf, down vest AND gloves on and waited impatiently for the heat to kick in while the car seemed to vindictively blow cold air at me!

Alright, technically the car thermometer said 33 degrees, so that is not quite freezing, but it's still cold! It's kind of funny, when you live in a place like Buffalo 33 feels SO cold in October, but by February it's considered "warm"! 

Why do I live here again?! Haha...just joking...kind of...

So here I sit at Panera, a cup of coffee and my computer...This is not my typical Saturday morning routine, but we're giving it a try to see if we like it...like test driving a new car for a week, or trying on a potential pair of shoes.

On most Saturday mornings one of two things happen; if I went to bed before 11 I get up before the girls to journal, pray, and gather my thoughts before the crew comes running downstairs! That's IF I went to bed before 11. 

Otherwise Scott and I both sleep until one or both of the girls coming bounding into our bed (usually by 7:30) and we plead with them over and over again for "5 more minutes!" as they chitter chatter and roll around and continually ask "is it time to get up yet?!" 

Once we do all make it downstairs, there is coffee and cartoons. Scott gets the pancake ingredients out and I typically put my workout stuff on and head to a 9 a.m. Zumba class. 

I have loved my Saturday morning Zumba classes-- in part because they are just plain fun and in part because it's one of the only days during the week when it's easy to get out of the house in the morning to get a workout in (unless I wanted to go really early!).

So why did I give up Zumba this morning for a cup of coffee at Panera?

(I know some of you are thinking...C'mon Lisa, that sounds WAY better anyway!) 

Last week while I was attending the Allume blogging conference I heard several women talking about how they started utilizing their mornings more efficiently, to pray and read their Bibles, to write  and exercise, or whatever else they are passionate about, but have a hard time fitting in. 

One woman, who ran a breakout session titled "How To Use Your Blog to Change the World During Naptime" (great title isn't it!), told us that she gets up every Saturday morning at 5 a.m. to write and work on blog posts until 10 a.m. or so and then she has the rest of the day to devote to her family.

5 a.m.!!!!!!! 

Ironically (or not so much!) Kat's (the 5 a.m. lady!) blog is titled Inspired to Action...it's an incredibly encouraging blog and you should definitely pop over and check it out. There is also a tab for "The Hello Morning Challenge", where women from all around the country join to encourage one another on in using their morning more fully and if you sign up to follow her blog you receive a free e-book titled "Maximize Your Mornings"! 

Let me tell you...hearing her say that was definitely inspiring. I am always impressed when someone is so committed to something or passionate about an idea that they make every effort to do that thing, or fit it into their lives, even if the fitting it in means sacrifice of some sort (um, sleep!).  Those men and women who get up early to train for marathons or stay up late writing pages for their novels...I love their stories and they encourage me to look for new ways to do things in my own life! 

So, I'm channeling a little bit of Kat's energy this morning and decided to give up my 9 a.m. Zumba class, set my alarm for 6:30 ( 5 a.m. was a tad too early for me!) and get over to Panera to work on some posts for this week, an on going writing project and do some planning for the week ahead. 

I'll be honest...I didn't want to get up at 6:30 this morning. Saturday is the ONLY consistent morning that I have the luxury of sleeping past 7 a.m. It also meant going to bed early last night and so I diligently found myself turning the t.v. off at 10 p.m. even though I was warm and comfy on the couch and wanted to watch one more episode of Downton Abbey (I'm a little late to the game here, but just discovered the series and am watching Season 1 on Netflix!) 

But sometimes we have to trade good for better. 

What I mean is that while I enjoy those Zumba classes, I fill more fulfilled when I can squeeze some writing or blogging in. The reality is I will easily be able to fit a walk or quick trip to the gym in later, but the writing takes more time...and doesn't always fit into our busy weekends. 

So here I sit, trying something new. Trying to utilize some of the time in which the girls are sleeping anyway and not much is going on around the house so that I can be there later when it is. I'm more of a morning person than a night owl...I don't love getting up in the morning, but I have more mental focus and energy in the morning and so I do it when I can. 

I'll let you know how it goes!


                              Hugs, 

                             Lisa