I've been trying to tweak my life to make things more effective and efficient. I'm not always very good at it. My spiritual life, my diet, my energy and calmness level, my kids' needs, what my house looks like - all need me to pursue major improvement.
One of the keys is schedule - which is a challenge since I am a more fluid person by nature - and one of the most important aspects of schedule is sleep. If I don't get proper sleep, I'm too tired to do anything else well, and then it's all downhill from there.
My goal is to be in bed by 10:30 and up by 6:30. This is quite a stretch. I tend to stay up late at night and then stay in bed as late as possible in the morning. I home school my 10 year old daughter and we try to start around 9 or 9:30 AM, so I pretty much have to be up before then. Unfortunately, I have two teens who leave for school around 6:30, and sometimes they miss the bus and need to be driven to school. So if I've puttered around until 1 AM, that's only five and a half hours of sleep.
Last week, I started setting an alarm on my phone reminding me to go to bed. I've blown right through it for days. Finally, last night I made it into bed with lights out by 11. Yay me! And I got up this morning at 6:30. Unbelievable.
I had seen a Thanksgiving 30 Day Scripture Writing Plan linked on Facebook so I decided to give it a go. I sat down with my Bible and a composition book that I've been using for the ladies study I attend on Monday nights (love it!). I skipped to the bottom of the Scripture list, copied out portions of Psalm 18, and looked up what "horn of salvation" means. The exact meaning varies, but all commentators agree it is a symbol of God's power, authority, victory, protection, etc. Yep, I need that encouragement.
Then I spent a little time cleaning up, namely hunting for stray dishes around the house and pulling hair balls out of my shower. I had a friendly chat with my 12 year old son and drove him to his bus stop. I took a shower and took my morning medicines and had a bite to eat. I've written this short blog post.
I feel like I am now ready for the rest of my day.
By faith, I am calling this my "morning bonus" because it is a good thing, an abundance of productive and empowering time.
I don't want to miss this. I think that will help me to do it all again tonight and tomorrow. And onward.
Ask me how this is going, will you?
And tell me how you make the most of your mornings! Ideas, please! Leave a comment!
You might also like this related posts:
- Smile. Focus. Begin.
- Just a Few More Things to Do...
- Pull It Together and Push It Through: How to Get It Done When You Think You Can’t
- Move Forward When Life is Hectic
- Busy & Creative at Home
- Brain Boosting: The Physical Factors
Virginia
P.S. #1: Last year I did a daily 31 Days of Autumn Grace series on this blog. Take a peek! This year I'm only doing it once or twice a week.
P.S. #2: I took the picture at the top of this post when I visited the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. two weeks ago on the way back from my New England Road Trip. I haven't yet had time to caption all of the art photos for their own post, but maybe I will tuck some of them into other posts. "Young Girl Reading" seemed suitable this morning since I had been reading. Even though I am no longer young, perhaps we can say I am young at heart?
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