Sleepy, but Got Up and About Early Anyway

 This morning I was only partially sleeping, hoping that when I finally awoke it would be later...a little past three.  Still, I felt in little shape to get up, although I did and promptly brewed some coffee.  I ran in place for ten minutes, dutifully writing the time down in my spiral notebook.  The temperature in the house is leaning to the cold side, and before long my plan is to reset it for 'cool' and return to bed and my barking, excited Daisy. It now being Tuesday morning the 10th of March, I foresee no new Rob Dial podcast for today...maybe Huberman or Rohn will produce another episode.  My hope with fitness is to cover the backyard with walking more efficiently.  I'd like to be able to write that I read more pages in the vicious, frustrating Khan fantasy book...not looking forward to enjoying it, though, with the anger of its main characters resembling that of the TV series Grey's Anatomy.  Just thank you for this day you provided me, Lord, and may I live it out more responsibly and graciously.  Let's celebrate a small victory...I got up and stayed up! Maybe later on I'll get Melissa to help me start up (and move) the white Camry.  May I avoid getting myself caught up in digging for dopamine, and allow boredom to grow my good habits and character.  It's not quite four yet, and I still remember the times 55 years ago when I had decided to arise before dawn in order to begin my school day in a wise, positive manner.  In a way, this is one of those kinds of days...

Instead of Regrets, Instill New System and "Show Up"

Regrets are aspects of my memory that don't really do me a whole lot of good in the present times.  I can easily get myself into a pattern of regret about wasting my school year evenings avoiding doing assigned homework. Then I can devise a system that might have retroactively worked to show that I at least showed up with the homework, producing a product that by no means needed to remotely approach excellence.  But examining the state of mind I was usually in after a grueling-long day at school puts me into a different attitude toward homework avoidance, and it has almost nothing to do with regret.  Nowadays at age 69 I can see the coming evening and I am quite comfortable recognizing that it is natural for me to feel tired, both mentally and physically, as nighttime descends and I want to eventually begin to enjoy a hopefully good night's sleep. I suppose that, alternatively, I could have intentionally gone to bed (sleep) early in the evening and gotten up early in the (school) morning around five, opening up my books around then with coffee on the dining room table.  As Andrew Huberman has repeatedly pointed out, sometimes the transformational moment for someone like myself can be simply showing up and making a nominal effort, placing a strict time limit on how long and how hard I go at whatever happens to be my project.  I suppose that at this stage in my earthly existence, since I am still ambulatory and can think for myself, this strategy of instilling a new system that emphasizes early morning activity is feasible and relevant.  Let's see how this goes...