The Most Important Thing I Do Every Day
5 years ago, I was in an unfulfilling job working at the Capitol, living in a cute condo in South Minneapolis, and was a five-minute walk away from a gorgeous rose garden and what became one of my favorite lakes to run around (if you know you know). One of the books I read in that season motivated me to start giving God the first part of my day (Secrets of the Vine). So, I decided I should give it a try! I committed to getting up an hour earlier every morning. And it wasn’t what I expected.
Let’s be real, the first week or so was so hard. I vividly remember sitting at my dining room table at 5am (my roommate still sound asleep), Bible open and honestly, just trying to stay awake. I vaguely remember not really getting much out of the first few mornings as I sat there trying to read the Bible and journal about something (what exactly, I wasn’t really sure). But, after a few mornings of waking up an hour earlier, I inevitably started going to bed earlier, because let’s face it, I was so tired! And once I started going to bed earlier (because I am an 8-9 hours-asleep-a-night kind of person…why yes, being a parent does infringe on this at times, many times actually), I was more awake, alert, and engaged during that first hour of my day and things really started to shift for me. And it’s become the most important thing I do every day!
My Perspective Changed
Getting up earlier, I found my perspective starting to change. Instead of starting my day worrying about whatever the day held, I would spend an hour reading my Bible and journaling (about anything and everything, it didn’t take long before I was filling up pages each morning). And that changed everything. Having God’s encouragement and truth and perspective fill my head and heart every morning before my day began helped me to go about my day seeing things as God would see them (not perfectly of course, but much more so than if I didn’t start my day that way). It helped me hear God’s voice more clearly and naturally throughout my day. It helped me set my intentions for my day around God’s Kingdom perspective rather than my own short-sighted perspectives. It gave a whole new meaning and purpose to my day. And that changed everything.
And journaling gave me a place to process every morning. Our days can be so jam packed that it can be so easy for us to have zero time to process all the thoughts and feelings inside our heart and head. And when we don’t regularly have the time and space to process them, it’s a recipe for disaster. It just is. We find ourselves having melt downs, being more irritable, having a hard time focusing, being easily distracted, and if you’re very emotional like I am, your feelings might be coming out of your eyes before you can explain why. Having a space to daily be able to process all my thoughts and feelings became invaluable.
My Priorities Changed
My priorities started to change too. Remember, I like my sleep, so I started going to be earlier. And because I started going to bed earlier, my priorities and routines started changing before I really realized it. I honestly cannot remember what I did at night before starting to get up earlier. If you can believe it or not, this was before smart phones and tablets and on-demand everything. So basically, yes, the dark ages. What I do remember is that I didn’t really miss whatever I was doing before I started to go to bed earlier, at least I didn’t miss it enough to stay up for it.
When we don’t have purposeful ways to spend our time, it can be so easy to fill it up with mindless activity. Especially today when there are literally a million and one things we have access to at home now that we can have devices streaming content 24-7 in any room of our home. Going to bed earlier made me make the most of my time after work. It wasn’t anything glamorous. I mean whose week night really is? There was dinner to make and eat, lunch to prep for the next day, a run to go on, and maybe time to read. And then it was time to go to bed. It wasn’t like my priorities were out of whack before I started getting up earlier. But getting up earlier and going to bed earlier did motivate me to become much more mindful of how I was spending my time after getting home from work.
What I Do Today as a Parent
So for 12 years, I started every single day by getting up an hour before I needed to start my day. And then our son was born 2.5 years ago! After he was born, it took me a while to get back into the habit of waking up an hour early every morning (if you’ve ever lived with a newborn or toddler, you know). But now that I’ve been at it again, I’m reminded how absolutely life-giving it is. These days, I usually workout first (a good workout helps me actually wake up now!) and then spend my time reading the Bible and journaling.
Waking up an hour earlier has been my favorite habit that I’ve ever started! And it has truly had the biggest impact on my life, my relationships, my thought-life, my emotional health, my mental health, and even my physical health. If you’ve never done it, I can’t encourage you enough to try it! And not just for a week (because you might still be groggy in the mornings after just a week of getting up an extra hour early), but for 6 weeks! And then let me know how it goes. If you do it already, comment below and let me know why you’ve stayed with it!