Is it Possible to Become a “Morning Person?”

If you have read my blogs over time you may have noticed the jokes I occasionally make about not being a morning person.  As a Christian and a pastor I have long taken the position that there are two kinds of people in the world: Christians and non-Christians.  Within those two groupings, however, are two other sub-groups, which are morning people and night people.  Most of us fall into one or the other.  All of my life I have been in the “night person” category.  I have never liked having to get up early, I enjoy being able to sleep in from time to time, and I have joked many times about how that in a perfect world nothing would actually begin until around 9:00 or 10:00 AM.  Many of my night person contemporaries sympathize with this plight as they too understand the enjoyment of being such a person.  Late at night it’s quiet, there are few interruptions, and it’s sort of a nice escape from the hectic schedules we so often have. 

But those morning people present a good case as well.  They arise up early, before daylight, and they get done more before 7:00 or 8:00 AM than many of us will before noon.  Deep in my heart I have longed to be a morning person, but is such a transformation possible?  I took that question to heart and said “why not?” Two weeks ago I began an experiment; I completely altered my daily schedule.  Instead of going to bed around 12:00 or 1:00 at night and getting up at 7:00 AM, I began going to bed around 10:00 and getting up at 4:15 AM.  Today is day 12 of this new schedule, and you know something?  I am truly enjoying this.  I believe I am on my way to making the transition to becoming a morning person.   

Since beginning this experiment I am getting more accomplished, I am more focused, and I am rising from bed easier than ever before.  I’m still exercising, and this is taking place before sunrise, which is pretty amazing as I wondered if I could have ever accomplished that.  I have heard many times that if you do anything for three weeks it becomes a habit.  I’ll let you know in a week if that’s true for me. 

To all my night person readers; I am still in sympathy with you and you’ll always have a special place in my heart.  And to all the morning people of the world; it may be time to welcome me to your team. 

It’s going to be a great day – with an early start!