Sunday, January 17, 2010

Early Birds Catch More Than Just The Worm...

I've been thinking....

Yes, yes, I know I'm ALWAYS thinking. But I thought of something new today.

Woke up early to go for jog in the park this morning. The sun was already up, and the sky was just the way I loved it; clear and blue. I could hear birds chirping away in the trees... and I actually saw a squirrel. This might not seem like such a big deal to people, but hey, for a city dweller like me who spends most of his life in air conditioned rooms and office buildings, anything other than a dog or a cat (or rat) is practically considered 'wildlife'....

I've always been more of a night owl, not much of a morning person. I often spend my mornings sleeping away, or wishing I was sleeping. To me, the best way to spend your morning is to be warmly snuggled up in bed underneath your blanket, and when available, with someone next to you for you to say good morning to, wrestle around and laze in bed with. THAT's my perfect morning. But since those sort of days aren't coming my way anytime soon, I started re-evaluating just how I'm spending my mornings (and nights). The only times I wake up willingly, is when I'm having breakfast with someone. Food and companionship are pretty powerful motivators.

Night time have always been my preferred time of day (or is that night?). I think it's something about the stillness of night that makes me a bit more at peace. And to a certain extent, the cover of darkness somehow makes me feel free... and thus more alive. Night times are also the times when my deepest and darkest thoughts manifest itself in me, everything from the deranged to the depressing. Night times are often when I look back on my day (and my life) and start reflecting the things that was and is. I guess the night just fits my mood of being contemplative and wistful.

It's usually on the eve of new year, at night, that people think back on the year that has been as they sing auld lang syne with tingles of happiness and sadness. In the morning, as the wake up, they stop thinking about yesteryear... and a feeling getting a fresh start or a clean sheet engulfs them. That's why people make new years resolutions. Given the chance, everyone wants to be able to wipe away all the screw ups they've made and start anew. The morning of new year is about the hope of a better year ahead.

And that was how I was feeling this morning... HOPEFUL, for a good many things. Hope for myself, hope for people I cared about..... You feel hopeful when you really want certain things in your life , but you recognize that sometimes, things are beyond your control, no matter how much you try, no matter how badly you want them. Life is part your effort, part fate. And so you surrender the outcome of things to God, the Universe or Karma whatever it is you believe.... and wish with all your heart that the outcome that is fated, is the one you desire in your heart.

There were one or two 'happiness' quotes that that I left out the last time. I thought about one this morning:

Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. ~Joseph Addison

It was the most practical one of the hundreds of quotes I read. Seeing a clear blue sky, watching the sun rise, and knowing that the day lay ahead of me, with countless possibilities, made me feel hopeful. And if having something to hope for was one of the 3 grand essentials to be happy... I wanted to keep hope in my heart, for as long as there was something to hope on.

If spending my waking hours in the mornings promised more hope than all the nights of contemplation ever can, if being a morning person meant being a more hope-filled and thus happier person, then a morning person I will become than.

No comments: