The Alarm Clock

Have you ever woke up in the middle of the night and looked at the alarm clock to see how much time you get to sleep before you have to get up? Isn't it a killer when you wake up only 10 or 15 minutes before the alarm is scheduled to go off? You feel so tired and as you gaze through the darkness at the alarm clock your hoping that you have at least another hour or two to sleep, but No! It's going off in 15 minutes! Ouch that hurts. Now what do you do? Get up or try and catch some sleep real quick? Fifteen minutes goes by real quick when your trying to catch a few more zzzz's. If your still tired I guess you can hit the snooze button a few times to avoid getting out of bed but then your running around like crazy trying to get ready for work so your not late.

The alarm clock... I hate that thing. On the other hand.......

Have you ever been so excited about going on vacation or on a trip that you couldn't wait for the alarm to go off? You would go to bed and set the alarm but you couldn't wait for it to go off so you could get up and get started.

Don't you wish more days were like this? You just can't wait for the alarm to go off so you can go out and begin a new day. Sadly though, many days are like the first example. We're lying there dreading for the alarm to go off because with it comes more hassles, more work, and more issues and we're too exhausted to tackle it all. Are there some things we can do to help transition to more better days than worse days? YES... we can have more days of looking forward to getting up than not. Well, there are some things we can do and for most of us this is where all the problems begin..... WE DON'T GET ENOUGH SLEEP!

Wow, thanks Steve for clearing that all up. "Well, you are welcome." "Hey someone needs to tell you what you already know but you won't do and that is... Get more rest!" You need more sleep. I'll give you three things that you can do that will help you overcome dreading the alarm clock in the morning. It's all about discipline.

I remember my most consistent days were when I was in boot camp in the Army. Lights out at 9 PM. and I was asleep by 9:01 PM because I was exhausted! Lights came back on at 4:45 AM and we heading out to exercise and run by 5:00 AM. We'd exercise and run till about 7:00 AM then it was chow time. We had 15 minutes to eat breakfast and then it was back to work. We'd work till Noon and then we had 15 minutes to eat lunch. We'd go back to work and work till 5:00 PM and then we'd have 15 minute to eat supper. back to work until 8:15 PM then it was showers and prepare or uniforms and boots for the next day. Lights out at 9 PM and that's how every day went. There were no snacks to eat between meals. We only drank milk or juice during our meals... no soda's at all. We worked hard all day so that when we did go to sleep, you wouldn't wake up till the lights came back on at 4:45 AM.

Now think about your routine now.
What do you eat all day long... I don't even want to answer that question. I snack and snack, I drink soda's and rarely drink milk anymore. It's awful.
What do you do all day long... I rarely work out now, but I used to all the time. I stay busy while at work but when I'm home it's off to the couch with a snack in my hand and TV to occupy my time.
When do you go to bed at night? It varies for me each and every night. I might even stay up late watching a movie on TV that I've seen several times in the past, but I just don't want to go to bed yet. It's like I want to enjoy relaxing for just one more hour or something. Then I end up going to bed late and shortening my sleep time.

Eat right, Exercise (work hard), and get your sleep. Those three things are the key to whether you will dread the alarm clock or not. Don't believe me... try it! You'll see. When we develop the discipline to do these three things then we can discipline other areas of our life as well. We can develop a quite time with the Lord and stick with it for a change. Until we get disciplined enough to eat right, exercise, and get our sleep, your days will be rough, tiring, and you'll have no energy to tackle the day or anything in it. Your self esteem is shot and your body begins to fall apart. Now you know where to begin. Sounds easy, and it really is if you'll just do it. The hard part is self discipline. We don't always obey the Lord and He's our Savior, good luck obeying your own set of rules! Instill discipline in your life, and reap the rewards!