One Little Change

It's been a long time since I've written. I just haven't had any free time here at work...but, that's what I'm here for, to work. Right? No complaints.

Bob and I have been in our new apartment a whole, four weeks already. We love it.

I changed my work schedule two weeks ago. I'm now working 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. as opposed to 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. I have literally gained two hours a day.

My life before the schedule change was: alarm goes off at 5:15 a.m., pound the snooze every seven minutes until 5:45, make coffee and try to wake up while watching Enjoying Everyday Life with Joyce Meyer (the 5:00 a.m. program, recorded on the DVR), hit the shower by 6:15 and be on the road to work by 7:00...at the latest.

I've always considered myself a morning person, but I've been an early-bird for so many years, my body just doesn't want to do it anymore. Even worse, was that even though I was home by 4:30 every afternoon, I certainly didn't feel like doing anything heroic when I got there beyond making dinner and cleaning up the mess, (which I consider to be heroic). Over the course of the past several months, I had somehow adopted this sedentary lifestyle and I wasn't liking it at all! We have a lovely gym at our new apartment complex. My fear was that with my work schedule and lack of energy or drive after work, I would never use it and I really, really want to!

Thus, the idea to change my work schedule came to mind. Actually, I believe it was God-inspired!

Only as a precaution, I now set my alarm for 6:30 a.m. The nice part is, I always wake up before that, but it's a natural awakening, as opposed to a brutal, forced one. I now feel rested when I waken instead of repeatedly hitting the snooze button, making me angry at the world the first 14 to 21 minutes of every day.

I get a lot accomplished those first two to two and a half hours in the morning. Also, somehow, God was beginning to get lost in the shuffle of my life...another thing I wasn't liking much...and I imagine that He wasn't liking my inattentiveness much either. It's nice to get up and have coffee with God again. In addition to that precious, quiet time, I usually manage to get enough domestic stuff done before I have to get ready for work that I feel good about walking out the door, not to mention feeling good when I walk back in again.

I'm sure I'll be attempting to integrate working out at the gym into my morning schedule soon. Right now, I'm just enjoying the one little change in my work schedule that has had such a positive effect on my life. I'm grateful to even have that flexibility.