I have always enjoyed being a night owl. I love hanging out with friends late into the night, going for all-night prayers, working into the wee hours of early morning till my job gets done, and many more such that I will always remain proud of.
However, over the past some time, God has been changing my routine. Of late, I have become more of an early bird than a creature of the night, from dreading “morningness” to eagerly waking up with a new enthusiasm every morning.
There’s more evidence in the scriptures of Jesus being a late night person than being an early riser. So this post is definitely not intended at picking on you if you are not really a morning person. However, if you are undecided about which pattern to follow, here are a few things I have personally experienced since disciplining myself to waking up early in the mornings.
1. It became easier to walk with God consistently
Psalm 59:16: “But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress.”
Earlier, my regular prayer and devotion times used to be in the nights, and I used to enjoy the same. The only problem with that was lack of consistency. There were days that used to be so physically exhausting, that my walk with God would go for a toss, especially because I would sleep late into the night and wake up just in time for the next task or appointment.
With my new routine of waking up early morning, I started getting enough time to seek the face of God at the start of the day, irrespective of how busy my day would be like. For one of the first times I was able to consistently pray on days like Sundays that are always so hectic for me. This was the one reason why I made up mind to be an early riser.
2. It gives me more time to spend with my wife
I have also begun to realize how I have private and free time to speak and share with Rashmi without much disturbances or interruptions in between. This is not just in the mornings, but through the day when I have more buffer time because of my day starting early. I make it a point to hear her out, and value every opinion she has about my ministry, life and even clothes, which I would have missed had I been caught up running from one thing to the next!
3. It keeps me healthy, happy and fresh
This has not been a compelling reason for the switch, but I have noticed that my mind remains fresh and active through the day because of a regular sleep pattern. This, of course, isn’t so when I miss my sleep due to reasons like travel, or other appointments that might occasionally keep me up into the night. Also, when I started sticking to a regular pattern of going to sleep and waking up at a fixed time all 7 days a week, some of the health issues I used to face also died out.
4. It boosts my productivity regularly
Proverbs 21:5: “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.”
Early rising has helped me plan my day in advance. And I can’t begin to tell you the benefit of planning your day. Yes it’s good to occasionally get out of your planned schedules and just be random for a change, but making that a lifestyle is not a really wise idea, however exciting that may sound. I have been making it a habit to plan my list of things to do, mails to answer, work to finish, things to write on, sermons to prepare etc, at the beginning of the day.
That allows me to evaluate my productivity at the end of the day and plan for the next day accordingly. I have realized that I am able to accomplish more things by regularly waking up early than conforming to a haphazard way of working into the night when there is a pressing need.
5. It gives me sound sleep at night
Last but not the least, surely, is the ability to fall off to sleep in the night without much hassles. A long and a tiring day makes my body want to rest, and rest so well that at times, my wife has to wake me up to tell me I am falling off the bed!
Here’s a song I love to sing on most mornings when I wake up!
Do you think any of these reasons would be good enough for you to switch to be a morning person? Are there any other benefits to the same? Would you still want to be late night person? If so, what are your reasons? Please feel free to share below.