It's a new dawn, It's a new day...

Have you ever listened to a song hundreds of time and never really gotten the message? Funny how circumstances have a way of changing your perspective and giving you a new type of clarity.

I am what you would refer to as a night owl. Early mornings are much dreaded in this household. My children included. It's not that I set out to be a night owl. I actually do pretty well in the winter and early spring months. Then the dreaded daylights savings time comes and throws off my internal clock.

Once April rolls around my sleeping pattern is all over the place. I missed an hour here. I slept an extra hour there. The day is not over and I am running on empty so I catch a little nap, or at least the intention is for it to be little and it turns into a two hour drool fest. Of course that night I'm not tired so I start going to bed later and later. Before I know it, June rolls around and my new bedtime is past two in the morning.

So here we are in August and I have been going to bed anywhere between two and four in the morning, pretty much for the last four months. However this week I had to go for some medical testing. I made the appointment and the receptionist tells me since I want a first available appointment it will be at 7am. That just means be here at 6:40am to fill out paperwork. The office is about twenty minutes away so that means I have to leave the house around 6:20am. Goodness what if there is traffic? That means I have to leave at least ten minutes earlier. So how do I wake up at 5:00am when I have been going to bed at 4:00am? Preparation is necessary to pull off this Hudini trick.

Three days before the much dreaded 7:00am appointment I have to sacrifice sleep and wake up early. I need to reset my internal clock. That day I wake up three to four hours earlier than usual. It takes me about forty-five minutes to actually get out of bed. Forty of which I am just telling myself that I need to get out of bed.
 I start my day. All of this early morning sunshine is foreign to me. My eyes can hardly focus and now I have this spotlight shining right in my face. No matter which way I turn it is there. This first day is horrible. My heart is beating in my chest as if it is trying to escape. My body is dragging every second of the day. Food is not even a factor considering my eyes are the only thing awake on my body. I turn to my old friend coffee. I drink all eleven ounces with such hope and such love. It feels amazing to finally have some positive feeling in my body.

The day lasts forever and it is now 10:00pm and my bed had been calling to me about the past three hours. I go to sleep before eleven that night. I sleep longer than anticipated, about ten hours. It feels good waking up before noon.  I feel like I can get so much done because I have so many extra hours.

So today my streak continues and I woke up at 8:00am. Suddenly I want to go for a walk and get some exercise. I want to be one with nature. I want to feel the hot morning sun on my skin.

This new appreciation for morning hours pops song lyrics into my head. Oh, Michael Buble, you make me smile. It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me and I'm feeling good. Oh yes, the song takes on new meaning today. So in the famous words of Mr. Buble...