#27: break bad habits…replace them with great ones

Since my change in schedule (and my return from Africa) I have tried to keep a new, better, daily schedule. As with many things…it started off really well…and has since then tapered off to not-so well. I enjoy mornings. I love the still before the rush to begin the day starts. It’s different than at nighttime. I find that nighttime is peaceful, but does not offer the same stillness. It is as if the air has an aura and knows when the world (in my closest proximity) is asleep and when it’s awake. I love mornings. Here’s the problem though, I’m not one of those rare people who just pops up out of bed at 6:15am rocking and ready for the day. I used to be. Somewhere between college, graduate school, (a(n), as in one, a single) all-nighter, emotional strain, and life that changed. So now in order for me to be able to enjoy said mornings that I so adore I must go to sleep earlier than…usually planned.

So for the first couple of months of the semester I was in bed by 10:00/10:30 and up by 7:00/7:30. (I know…nine hours!!? Who does that??? Well I’ll tell you who does that…people who are ridiculously good at time management and freaks. Those are the only two kinds of people who do that. Alright…there’s one more category…people who are moderately good at time management until they realize they actually have been slacking and have too many things to do and must start staying up later… That last one, I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, is me.)

So I tell you all of this absurd information to explain to you my bad habit. My bad habit of pushing back the time that I must awake, roll out of bed, walk my dogs, exercise, shower, read, pick up the kitchen, whatever is on my to-do list for the day (right…sometimes “roll out of bed” doesn’t make the list.) …I push it back until I’m racing out the door and the entire drive to my destination I must worry if I will be late and compulsively glance at my odometer that never passes the speed limit.

Why do I do this? …I don’t really know. I guess I’m trying to make the best of my time while being blissfully unrealistic with the amount of time that I have (and need). (Side note: I’m never early. I love people that are early…and simultaneously despise them. Seriously, don’t you have anything else better to do than stare at normal people as they arrive and taunt us them with your “I’ve-been-here-for-fifteen-minutes’ face!!? Come on!)

It’s a bad habit. One that I’m going to try to break. I think it will take some help. I’ll probably have to have someone call me and make sure that I’m out of bed by the (reasonable) time that I intend to get out of bed when I set my alarm.

The thing is…I hate this habit. The increase in heart speed and blood pressure between my house and my destination is simply uncalled for and unnecessary. Usually it’s only a 5-10..alright 15 minute difference but that is huge! I have other bad habits…if you can believe that there is more than one!!? Crazy, right? (Ha!)

My left toe nails are always more beautifully manicured (pedicured?) than my right. You know why? (TMI coming up?) Because when I’m reading or studying or just sitting for a long time I cross my right foot under me, sit on it, and break off my toe nails. (Why would someone do that!!?) That’s my freak flag waving right there.

I always pack too heavily. I’m not just talking for a trip to Africa or Asia…because that is reasonable in my book. (You’re going a long way from home, for generally a generous amount of time, and home girl never knows what you’ll need. True story.) But I pack too heavily on a daily, moment-to-moment basis. “Oh, I might have time to read that whole book, read two chapters out of that book, work on some bible study, and then I could probably write a paper, so I’ll bring that book I want to read for leisure just in case my day at school is too productive.” (Read: I’ll probably forever be frequenting the chiropractor.)

I’m going to go set five alarms around my room to make sure I get up tomorrow morning at the time I want to get up, and then I’m going to put band aids on my toes for the next two months. I’ll probably paint them too, just to be on the safe side. When I wake up tomorrow morning, I’m going to happily spend time with Jesus…because when you take something away you must replace it otherwise there is a void to be filled…and pal, old habits really do die hard…real hard.

#27: break bad habits…replace them with great ones.

To read about how the topic of becoming a better twenty-something-year-old got started go here to begin at the beginning!