The hour before the day starts

I saw a quote recently that really hit me: “The way you start your morning determines how your day goes. And how your day goes determines your life.”

It feels true.

There was a time in my life when my morning routine didn’t exist. I got up and raced to the shower. I got ready for work. I ran out the door. I didn’t have breakfast. There was no time.

Everything was picked up on the way to work. Quick stop at Pret for breakfast and coffee before I got to my desk, where I drank my coffee and, if I was lucky, ate my breakfast. Often it was straight into a meeting, and that’s how I started my day most days.

Then I rushed from meeting to meeting, grabbing a few minutes in between to respond to emails, use the bathroom, grab a cup of tea. Lunchtime, maybe there was a break, maybe there wasn’t. Sometimes I grabbed a salad or a sandwich and ate at my desk. Sometimes I had lunch in a meeting, and then it was back to more meetings again in the afternoon.

End of the day was often some kind of exercise class in an attempt to keep myself healthy. So rush out to get to yoga, the gym, or Pilates. Or I’d meet up with friends over a drink to connect, and then home, exhausted, to do it all again.

No time to be. Barely time to eat. The self care was there in theory, but it was always rushed.

That was the life I lived for years. The rush, the constant being behind schedule, the running late, always rushing.

I think time is our biggest luxury. And the freedom to choose how we spend it.

I get up early now so I can have a slow morning. Sometimes 5 AM. And some of my friends laugh at me. I’m getting up at 5 AM so I can have a slow morning! But that time is really precious to me. The peace and calm of early mornings, the space to be before the world gets up.

The alarm goes off, but it’s a sunrise alarm, so there’s no beeping, just the light gradually waking me up. This clock has changed my life. Sounds dramatic, but it’s true! No more dark mornings, no more being jolted awake by an aggressive beeping alarm. Highly recommend.

I boil the kettle. I go and sit on my bathroom floor and do my morning meditation. Only ten minutes, but I feel the difference.

Then I make my mug of tea and get back into bed. My dog comes in next to me. She snores and I do my morning journaling.

It’s my favourite part of the day.

How am I feeling? What am I grateful for? What do I want to achieve today?

I find that the combination of these things brings me a lot of insight about how I’m doing in my life. Gratitude makes me feel calmer. Writing down how I’m feeling helps me process.

I think these practices change the way my day goes. They remind me who I am, where I am in my life, what my priorities are, and how I want my day to look.

Now, I know we can’t control our days every day, and I’m definitely not perfect. But we can try to be mindful about how we engage with our day. We can choose our mindset and our intention.

And sometimes, that hour before the day starts gives us the space to hear ourselves before everything else begins.