My earliest memory was my mother waking me up. It was dark outside and chilly inside. I don’t remember how many times she came into my room to get me out of bed. I do remember pulling the covers over my head and refusing to get up in the dark and cold to get ready for pre-school . . .
Mom was the first to give up our morning battle and I started kindergarten with “learning deficits”. Decades later I continue to not want to greet the new day until it is DAYtime. Morning and me ain’t buddies.
Furthermore, people, like Peggy, who bound out of bed alert and cheerful are jarring at best and obnoxious at worst.
I take umbrage at being labeled “lazy” by you early-morning-worshipers who think those of us who understand that moving any extremity in increments larger than a few inches is not natural before 10 am.
NOW! FINALLY I’m vindicated!!! Read this excerpt! (jw)
“As anyone who struggles to get out of bed in the morning knows, fighting laziness is a losing battle. From beneath the covers, the world outside seems colder; the commute to work seems longer; the number of e-mails to answer unbearably high. Authority figures may chalk our lethargy to lack of self-discipline, but . . .
. . . new research suggests that we’re just being our true selves: Choosing the path of least resistance, scientists argue, is hard-wired into our brains.” (What a relief. I thought my wiring was simply “loose”)
“When we make decisions to act (or not), the brain thinks like an economist and runs a cost-benefit analysis. If the “cost to act,” as the researchers call it, is too high, it can bias our decision-making process, making us less likely to do things. Applied cleverly, their findings can help us do things that we should be doing — and those that we should be avoiding. For example, going to the gym in the morning could seem more effortless if you sleep in your sweats, just as stashing your booze on a hard-to-reach shelf might make drinking it seem like more effort than its worth. There’s no guarantee that these hacks will work, but . . . “
“. . . if there’s one thing we can count on, it’s that we’ll always take the easy route when it’s available — and becoming less lazy may simply come down to avoiding that option altogether.”
If you don’t believe me read the article: Neuroscientists Just Gave Lazy Humans a Free Pass
Originally posted on Max Your Mind. To see more from Max Your Mind, click here.
I should have added that my older son couldn’t get out of bed and mornings were a battle – every morning was a battle. He had to go to school. I had to go to work. His dad left the house without helping. Son couldn’t fall asleep easily and couldn’t get up early. I wish I’d understood the problems he faced. Now I have a million regrets. What I wouldn’t give to have one day back with my sons when they were little, a chance to do it right.
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Shari,
Those of us who learn, from our mistakes and from others, will always be able to look back and see how we could have done things better. The consolation is we can look forward and do things better ahead.
Peggy
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Judy, what a great image of childhood staying in bed behavior. My childhood laziness memory is being determined to get up to see my Dad before he went off to work. IMy 3 or 4 year old self just couldn’t do it. I too watch Peggy bound out of bed and can’t understand where that early energy without a determined struggle comes from. I have managed for a hike in Oak Creek Canyon or a breakfast at the Vatican, but not easily even for those glorious places.
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Karen (and Judy),
What you may have noticed is that at night, when you all are ready to party, I am fading and the first too leave. Such is the price of early morning bounding.
Peggy
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This explains a lot.
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