Blessed Sunrise: Memory and Practicality

Walking the Camino de Santiago I saw some of the most beautiful sunrises. Everyday they made my day. It gave me a chance to greet the day ahead.

I am not someone who is good at staying up very late. I generally like the morning. However, neither have I natural ability to bounce out of bed at dawn. That takes some self control and discipline. I really adore sunrise. It is easy for me to watch this glorious moment during winter because I see the beginning of a brand new day on my way to school. In summer though, I have to try and get up earlier and earlier to greet the new day. Believe it on not, this has its advantages. It is however, hard to do at first, and you have to warm yourself into it.

I have started in the last two weeks setting my alarm 15 mins earlier, last week and this week 30 mins earlier. This means that at the moment I wake to greet the day at around 5.30am, but as the summer term moves on I will probably work towards getting up around 5am. There are secrets to enjoying the beginning of the day. I could write for hours of them, but I think it would be more useful to tell you about my rules and reasons. Please be aware, that I try with these. I fail too!

1. If you want to see the day early think of your ideal time for getting up and work towards it in 15 mins, setting your alarm earlier in stages.

2. Don't press snooze, put your alarm clock as far away from the bed as possible.

3. Get out of bed straight away, and go and do something! (I go for a pee and brush my teeth! By the time I have seen my ugly mug in the mirror I am awake through sheer shock!)

4. Use the extra time to do something that you like! Read the paper and have some yummy breakfast, meditate, think about the day and walk around the garden!

5. Make a list of the things you have to do that day...and then do half of them before anyone else gets up.

6. Listen to the peace and quiet.

7. Set off early to work so you can go slowly and do not have to rush.

In the summer especially, I think that this is a brilliant way of keeping my cool in the ups and downs of a day. I admit that it is tricky at first. And in the dark winter I do not like it. But summer is all about the light.