Early Bird

The moment when you first wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the twenty-four hours.  No matter how weary or dreary you may feel, you possess the certainty that, during the day that lies before you, absolutely anything may happen.  And the fact that it practically always doesn't, matters not a jot.  The possibility is always there.  

~Monica Baldwin

I like mornings, and this quote sums up a lot about the way I feel. I think we often forget the beauty of mornings, of sunrises, and of waking up, lost in the blaring of our alarm clocks and world-weary routine of our morning habits. But there is a certain beauty in mornings, as Monica says: "No matter how weary .... you may feel, you possess the certainty that, during the day that lies before you, absolutely anything may happen." Absolutely anything! That's a wonderful possibility. We take that for granted way too much. The next bit of the quote is also wonderful: "The fact that it practically always doesn't, matters not a jot." When one wakes up hopeful in the mornings, open to new things and new experiences and excited to watch the day unfold, you'll almost always find something meaningful, even if nothing wildly extraordinary does. And even if you don't, there's always tomorrow.

I think we, as humans, depend an awful lot on possibilities. Is it intrinsic in our nature to be hopeful? It's a nice thought, but doesn't always lead to nice consequences. Gambling, lottery tickets, reckless driving—in some ways, those are all playing with the possibilities. Logic says: don't play with these odds, and yet we do. Over and over and over again. In this context, it might seem depressing, but in the context of mornings, it seems comforting. What do we have to lose by envisioning endless possibilities for our day, or remembering that "absolutely anything may happen"? 

Do you remember any mornings when you got up to do your morning routine and suddenly the entire day changed? Maybe your parents told you that you were going on a surprise holiday or some other exciting news. Perhaps your job was cancelled for that day. Most of us have had this experience, and mostly, it's a wonderful feeling. The day suddenly seems endless, stretching out before us in hours and hours of unplanned-ness. 

That's what happened to me this morning. I was up at six-thirty, perhaps more awake than I usually am, but certainly not in a hopeful or happy mood. I was halfway through washing up when my Dad told me school was cancelled due to weather. 

Perhaps it shouldn't have been as surprising as it was. It took me a few moments to process this, and then go through my now-empty-ish day. Being up before seven with nothing to do till much later is quite a freeing feeling. It's shocked me out of my routine mornings, and I'm grateful for that. One of the benefits to being up so early is that on the ride to school, I always get to see the sunrise. Then I can take a moment to really soak in the beauty of  morning. But why does the beauty of morning have to wait till eight o'clock? Why can't it start the minute you first open your eyes? Next time a day takes a different turn, I don't want to be as surprised. I want to face my mornings with much more hopefulness, eagerness, and anticipation. Because you really do never know what might happen.

-Angel