I've had morning routines before. They were a bit easier when I had an apartment and a job that required me to be out of the door by 6:27am. A set time frame keeps me more disciplined. Now, I don't have my own apartment and I'm often doing things with other people, and have a little less time and space to do my own thing. Also, my mood seems to be getting worse. Add depression to chronic physical pain, and it's really hard for me to motivate myself to do anything. So most days, I don't do all of these things. I do try though.
1. Pray. Admittedly, the way I pray in the morning is sort of pathetic. I usually just mutter something like, "I'm not dead. Great. Thanks, God!" Told you, weak. But I think it's important.
2. Make the bed. This is, hands down, the most essential part for me. It's also not some super secret. Google "good habits" or "habits of happy people" (which... problematic) and you'll often see people talk about what a difference making the bed can make. For me, I prefer neatness and cleanliness. I'm more productive when things are in order. Also, I won't lay down once my bed is made. It's not so much that I have some aversion to wrinkling the blankets so much as aversion to making the bed a second time. (Laziness for the win.)
3. Read. Specifically, I read something religious (spiritual? I don't know) every morning. Obviously, that's not going to be the case for everyone. But taking ten minutes to read something ~inspiring~ is a good idea. During Lent, I've been reading this. I haven't figured out what I want to read next. I really, really want to read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but I already own quite a few C.S. Lewis books, so I might opt to save money I don't have and read one of those instead.
Those are the three things I do every morning. There are more things I do as part of my "routine," but like I said, I haven't quite mastered doing each of them every day without fail.
4. Read more. So I always read something to help me get my praise on, but I also try to spend some time reading a regular book. I love reading and I set a goal to read more this year. I want to try for 50 books. So I try to work toward that every morning. I do this most mornings. I enjoy it, I learn, I get a sense of accomplishment every time I hit a new chapter or finish a book, and I'm working toward a goal. All good things to start the day.
5. Exercise. I have a very hard time with this. I'm already out of shape, but to make matters worse, I'm in pain very often. I have endometriosis, and the surgery I had a couple months ago wasn't entirely successful. I still have growth around some of my organs, and it's painful. Sometimes I wake up pain-free. If that's the case, I exercise. If the pain is just a dull ache I'll exercise. If it's moderate, I'll take some Aleve or Ibuprofen while reading and hope it goes away. If it's severe, I just can't be active. BUT, what do I do for exercise? If I'm at my grandparents' house I'll go play tennis against a brick wall or play a little basketball. If I'm at my aunt's house, I'll do leg lifts and sit ups in the loft. If I was back in Albany, I'd probably do the tennis and basketball or take walks through Washington Park, which is beautiful.
6. Listen to a good song. In college, I'd listen to Diva by Beyonce as I got dressed. I remember my Bey-crazed friend, Nasha, bursting into my room once as soon as it came on. Fun times. Currently I enjoy listening to one or both of these:
Solid taste, Char.
I should mention that these don't guarantee a good day for me. I can do all of the above and still have a bad day where I feel really lousy. They're not a cure for depression, they're not a magic productivity pill, they're not grantors of happiness. But I do think my chances of feeling good or being productive are improved when I do these things. And even if I do have a bad day, I'd still have spent my morning doing good things, even if that's hard for me to recognize.
What are your morning routines?
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Charlotte
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