Early the Bed, Early to Rise

There is wisdom in the saying "Early to bed, early to rise." I used to love to stay up late at night. I was sure the party began when I went to bed. Often times I stayed up too late and made my life very difficult. When I was in college, everyone seemed to stay up until at least 1am. So of course I stayed up too...except I had to get up at 5am for rowing practice. Just a few months ago I found it difficult to get out of bed before 8am. Last summer I would go walking in the park with one of my really good friends and her kids. We would be AT the park by 7 to beat the heat. It didn't seem like that was going to happen this year.

Well, we decided to start running (which I'm so very excited about). My really good friend and I decided to run in the mornings instead of evenings. We both knew how hard it would be to get all our runs in during a week and how often we would be 'too tired' to go. So, we have to get up earlier enough so our husbands are home with our sleeping children.

Ever since we started running, I have been ready to go to sleep around 8:30. When you go to bed earlier, you get up earlier. So I'm still getting my 7-9 hours of sleep every night. Anyhow, my point is that when you get up earlier there are so many things you can enjoy. Since my family is still sleeping when I get up, I have time to enjoy the peace and quiet. I have time to enjoy the fresh new day I have been blessed with. I have time to meditate and ponder my personal needs. I also feel like I am better prepared to be a mother and wife each day. I know the sun being up and the length of the sun during the day also helps these good endorphins. But I truly do feel more spiritual and see Heavenly Father's hand in everything at this time of day.

I just hope I continue to feel great when I am "early to bed, early to rise."