NaBloPoMo 26: Facing the Day with Hurray

I'm not a morning person. I don't like getting up in the dark, or the cold. You won't find me crawling out of bed to go the gym before work. I hate waking up with to shrill alarm of any kind. The alarm I use awakens me with gentle flute music that gets a little louder the longer it plays. I like to ease into my day.

It occurred to me about a year ago that I was a little grumpy when that alarm went off, flute or no flute. I began to think about how the first word I spoke on most days was "shit!" in response to the alarm clock.

What a terrible way to start every day of my  life! I know damned well that I am lucky to be able to wake up and get out of bed on my own accord. What if I was suddenly granted my wish: Bed all day long, no getting out of bed. Well. Then I'd want to get out of bed, of course. If I would rather get out of bed then stay in it all day, then I should wake up with a positive note, because I am so lucky to get what I want! 

So I decided to give myself a week to change my attitude. For 7 days I would say "Hurray!" the minute the alarm went off.

The first day it was funny. I did it! I hurrayed, and I laughed. HURRAY! It's time to get up.

The next day, Hurray. There. I did it.

On the days that I really wanted to revert back to my standard "oh, shit" greeting, I still croaked out a sorry, insincere, "h'rayy," which in turn, amused me.

Guess what! I felt better. Every single day, I felt better. If I woke up resisting the morning, and my "hurray" smacked of "oh, freakin' hurray" in tone, I still, by God, said it.

I did not stop, after 7 days. I still start my day with "hurray" and I stand by this: It makes a difference. It is small. It is just a word. But it's a positive word, and I think replacing even one negative word a day with a positive one for the rest our lives does make a difference. It adds up, and I double-dog-dare you to try this for one week and see for yourself.

If you give it a shot, even for a day, let me know how it goes.

I'm out of here for now though; it's getting late, and I have to get up early.

Hurray.