Perpetual Ruminations

Wednesday

Well, I was doing real good, but tonight it's kind of late again. Not real late, but going on bedtime here. Of course that's not so late, since bedtime is eight to eight-thirty. I know pretty early to bed, but then how does that saying go? "Early to bed, early to rise makes a man feel healthy, wealthy, and wise." That's one my grandma used to say all the time. The other was, "Rise and shine, it's a beautiful day in Chicago." I never quite understood that the idea was behind this one. Another one she used was, "The early bird gets the worm." She didn't say this very often, and being little, I didn't really give it much thought.

My older brother must have given it a lot of thought, since he was damn near impossible to get out of bed before noon. He must have thought this out and decided he didn't want worms, so he was staying in bed until the early birds had them all.

I read a poem that I know grandma would have enjoyed, and probably said all the time. It's short and simple, yet hits the spot quite well. I won't bother putting it into format, and I don't recall who wrote it. It goes like this, "Get up, get up, you lazy head, Get up you lazy sinner, We need those sheets for table cloths, It's nearly time for dinner." I guess the reason I don't recall who wrote this is because it's anonymous.

Yep grandma would have loved that one, and she would have loved seeing me off to bed this early. I never have been one to go off to bed very early, even though I like getting up early. In my youth, it wasn't any problem to stay up and watch the late show with my sister and dad, then go to bed and be up by six or seven. As a teen, I still was up early, around seven at the latest, but it was a task to get up for school. Then in the service, I got a taste for working nights. I had a wonderful shift, three in the afternoon to eleven, or twelve, or even as late as three in the morning, depending on what was going on.

Most times not a lot at night, and we would be out of there by nine if there wasn't any brass around. If there was, it would be around ten or eleven, after they had left. Of course, there were plenty of nights there was stuff going on, and then it would be one, two, or three in the morning. Sometimes, we would get switched over to seven at night till seven in the morning for exercises and special tasks. By the time I got out, I was no longer one to get up early. I would be just getting my second wind around nine or ten at night. Of course, most of the jobs I had required me to be up early, so I developed a habit of being up late and getting up early. It wasn't too early, around five, and I could handle that. Now it's three and I'm not a strutting rooster anymore.

So now, I'm re-adjusting my body clock to sleep earlier and get up earlier. I'm also re-adjusting my psych to think like my grandma, "Early to bed, early to rise ...." It's true, a person does feel much better if you get up and enjoy the full day. I get so much more done, too. Well, if I have my sleep that is. See that's the problem right now, I'm up early, there's no choice. But I'm up late at night, too. Sure, there is a choice, but old habits die hard, and how do you make yourself go to sleep when your body says it's time to go? I know the answer, by getting up early, and not taking naps. See I also was never much for naps, but I have started that habit, too.

Now, though, I'm doing better at staying up and then being tired enough at night to fall asleep. Only, sometimes someone will call late and get my stressed, or things will come up with work and I'm pulling a double shift on my day off. This usually occurs after I have been up late for work the night before, so I'm going on little sleep, working a long day, and by the time I get home, I'm beat. I take a little nap, but end up sleeping longer than I want, and then it's right back into the old habit again.

This time I've been fighting it, and so far I'm doing pretty good. That's why I'm logging out and going to bed, even though it's only eight o'clock here.