Beating the Morning Blues

What we’ll be discussing in this article:
My morning routine
Being grumpy
Exercise & sleep apnea
Being grumpy was a habit
New routine

Morning routine

My morning routine for the last few years has been anything but remarkable.

It goes like this:

Wake up, check my phone for emails/messages, wake the youngest kid up, do all the bathroom stuff, help the kid get dressed, brush her hair, hitch up the hound, walk to kindergarten, walk for 60 minutes, get home, have breakfast, and start work.

Nothing bizarre in there at all. However, it was all done in as much silence as possible. Why? Because I’m very much not a morning person, or, at least, I very much wasn’t a morning person.

Big grumpy head!

I would wake up most mornings and just be in foul form. I mean, like, if you gave me the chance to light the world up in a blaze of brimstone and fire, I’d take you up on the offer.

The walk to kindergarten would mostly be me answering the wee questions that any five-year-old has but my answer would tend to be as short as humanly possible because I just wouldn’t have the energy or motivation to talk.

Exercise & sleep apnea

And then came the walk. I need to exercise every day to keep the weight off because I used to have sleep apnea and I don’t want to ever have it again.

On the walk I’d find myself engaged in ruminations on the past, playing both the hero and victim in events that have long come to a close but I seem to still be seeking closure.

I’d do my best to stop myself when I’d catch myself but, more often than not, I’d fall headfirst into ridiculous tangents and daydreams that served nobody other than the shadow side that ever-lurks beneath the surface.

I was sick of these mornings. Why on earth would I want to act like this when I don’t actually have to?

Being grumpy was a habit

Looking at it objectively I realized that I’d fallen into a grumpy-morning pattern that was, indeed is, present in my family background.

So, I needed to change and the answer were pretty simple in the end.

Maybe this will help other people who suffer from being a grump at daybreak so I’d like to share it.

New routine

First of all, my phone doesn’t come into the bedroom anymore, I leave it in the living room in airplane mode and use an older phone also in airplane mode as an alarm clock.

I now set my alarm for 10 minutes earlier than I used to wake up at and I stick my legs out from under the covers so the cool air wakes me up faster. I lie there and I think about all the things I’m going to do today that will make tomorrow easier for future me.

Basically, you’re planning the ‘wins’ you’re going to try and achieve today.

So, for example, I’ll think, OK, today I’ll change the kids’ bedsheets and clean the bathroom so that I don’t have to do them the following day. I’ll write an article or two for Medium, or at least I’ll come up with the topics and do some research on them.

I offer some gratitude because y’know, it’s a bizarre life and we’re all lucky to be here. As we say back in Ireland ‘you’re a long time dead’ so I like to remind myself that yes, you’re here and you’re alive so enjoy it.

I’ll wake up the kid soon and I’ll make it fun for her (she certainly inherited the Murphy-grumpy-mornings gene and when I go downstairs I’ll play with the dog for a bit and give him some attention and make the morning routine fun for both kids, make some funny comments, tell a silly joke, whatever it is that makes them laugh.

I walk her to school and talk more, crack a few jokes, and do my walk with a clearer head, being mindful of rumination and hypothetical thoughts and I won’t touch my phone until I’ve returned.

These aren’t huge ‘wins’ certainly not in the grand scheme of things and I’m not planning the day out hour-by-hour, or micromanaging the day, that would be rather anxiety-inducing.

Let me boil it down for you then.

When I was waking up in bad form I wasn’t being present in it, I was ruminating on the past or being anxious about hypothetical future events so I need to be present in the world, set goals that count as small wins, and make it fun for both the people around me and for myself.

Life’s too bloody short to be grumpy all the time. And yes, I know this is all easier said than done but if a grumpy sod like me can do it, anyone can.

Take it slow at first if you need to, try with gratitude, or just list one or two ‘wins’ you want to have today.

It’s helped me so much that I felt that I needed to share it because even if it helps just one person out there then it’s worth sharing.

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Hi, I’m Paddy. Thanks for reading my article about beating the morning blues.

I’m a counselor and writer.

If you’d like to contact me regarding a counseling session, or my writing you can contact me here.

You can make a donation here, Paypal or via Bitcoin.

If you’d like to read my latest articles on Medium you can subscribe here. My different social media channels are here.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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