Joy comes in the morning.

Several months ago I was struck by the epiphany that, separating my time as an LDS missionary, I could probably count on my two hands all the times when I have gone to sleep before 11pm since I was about 14 years old. I think of myself as a night person, but can’t say whether that’s due to nature or nurture, aside from the fact that my body doesn’t seem to want to go to bed at night. But really that feeling is more one of procrastination, not wanting to finish everything up to go to bed, or call it quits on an incomplete day, than a feeling of excitement from being so productive in the later hours.

This week’s goal was to engage self-discovery by trying a new daily schedule. I started off with a 10:30pm bedtime on Sunday night, planning to awake at 6:30am. I ended up doing 10:50pm to 6:35am, so pretty close. I continued with that goal throughout the week.

Though convincing myself to go to bed at night will probably continue to be a hard task, I do feel terrific when I wake up early. I like the work that I do in the mornings.

Two quotes that I want to continue pondering:

Psalm 30:5 “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”

Elder Russell M. Nelson says, “in order to experience true joy in the morning, or at any time, at least three factors are needed. You need to feel good about the people with whom you live and work—your companions in life. You must feel good about yourself—not in any sense of conceit, but simply a proper esteem for yourself, well deserved. And possibly most important, you must feel good about your relation to God and sincerely love him.”

And also, Benjamin Franklin, whose words, “Early to bed, early to rise, make a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,” have become commonsense proverb, also promised, “The early morning has gold in its mouth.” He recommended consistency in rising early.