Taking Charge

I typically take the time to enjoy my morning; I wake up with plenty of time to get ready for the day, listen to the news, and enjoy my breakfast. Lately, however, I have been waking up with just barely enough time to tame my hair, brush my teeth and get out the door. I'm not being dramatic when I say that this approach to my morning is truly and completely emotionally draining. The stress doesn't stop when I leave my apartment...I attempt to eat my breakfast in the car as I am driving with one knee and an elbow (super safe, I know) and then scurry into work with just enough time to clock in by 7:59...which leaves almost no time to go to the back of my office and get coffee before getting to work. Inevitably, these are almost always the mornings when something drastically wrong has happened in my office and I have to switch into a much more alert mode. By the time I get settled down, I find myself realizing that it is not even 9am and I feel as though I have run a marathon.

So what's the point?

We go, go, go, and rarely slow down to enjoy ourselves. Life is not exciting on autopilot and what's worse is that most of the people in the world have already figured this out. So it's kind of like a "jokes on you" sort of deal. Well I'm done letting other people point and laugh at the fact that I am failing to experience the finer details of life. I have decided to take control.

I have been waking up at 4:45am to go running three times a week. This makes me more alert and gives me a chance to unwind before I have to get ready for the day. Although these super early mornings mean shorter evenings (I often go to sleep by 9:30pm), because I am not running in the evenings, I tend to have more time to do the things I want to do at night. I read, watch tv, or spend time with friends.

I also started volunteering as an ESL instructor at a local non-profit organization. This is completely in line with my future career goals and it gives me a sense of self. It can be easy to forget that I am not the only person on the planet (admit it, we all have our selfish days, weeks, months...years?). I am also gaining valuable experience. Plus, I tend to not sleep in on Sundays and find that I am getting much more accomplished.

Because I am preparing for an exam, I have been spending more time studying and less time being lazy--which makes me feel like I am gaining way more in life.

Finally, I have decided to move into a more densely populated area. I love people watching and art --so this will be great for me.

In short, I have stopped living on autopilot and have started ... well, living.