A Breath of Fresh Air

It's funny to me how simple, practical changes can produce lasting effects. It's also funny how something can seem so insurmountable when you're stuck in a certain mindset, only to realize that it's just a matter of a simple change of thinking and habits.

When I was younger (read: thirties), I idolized the idea of waking up at 5 am. I had a couple of friends who made a habit of getting up at 5, and it felt like a heroic thing to me. I tried it a few times: wake up, incredibly bleary-eyed, stumbling through some morning devotional readings and blunder through the rest of the day.

I guess because I've gone through REAL insomnia since then, my body is somehow more tolerant of schedule shifts, and I'm able to get up early with a little bit more consistency than before.

This morning, like a handful of other times the past couple weeks, I found myself awake at or just before five am, did a quick morning routine, hopped in my car, and found a coffee shop that's open early.

Today, I discovered a really neat coffee shop just a couple few miles east of me in an area I don't usually spend much time in (not a bad area, just older). This coffee shop had really nice music (I stopped going to Starbucks both because of their anti-union activities, and because they almost always have uncomfortably loud and often garish music), a nice atmosphere, and comfy seats. PARADISE!!

I pulled out my Pinebook Pro laptop (a very cheap and incredibly useful little ARM Linux subnotebook I got a few years back), pulled up my daily reading and notes, and went to town while enjoying some really good hot tea and a bagel while perusing one of the Gospels.

And you know what? It made all the difference in the world. I got home tonight and instead of feeling anxious and wanting to fill the time with TV or silly internet videos, I just chilled out on the couch and did a little bit of shell scripting. I felt a general sense of emotional welness and contentment, mainly because I got an early start on the day, and was able to spend time in reflection without feeling that I was behind the curve all day long.

Sometimes the simplest things can have incredibly lasting effects.
So never give up. Things can change.