Proverbs 10:4 – “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.”
Proverbs 6:9 – “How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?”
I often say that if you want someone to tell you about yourself, read Proverbs.
So, after reading a few verses on laziness and Peter Shankman’s blog post on the Top 10 Reasons to Get Up Early Everyday, I vowed to do just that.
I used to go to bed anywhere between 2am and 3am, then wake up around 9am. I felt as if I had rested, but I also felt a bit guilty that I lost out on most of the day.
I used the excuse that I’ve been going to bed at that time since high school, so I can’t change. Not at all. So, my life, my business and my body started to reflect this.
- I still felt fatigued. I was getting 6-7 hours of sleep per night, but I didn’t feel refreshed.
- It was getting more and more difficult to lose weight. It doesn’t help that my metabolism is slowing down now that I’m in my late 30s, but I found that I was doing more work for little results.
- My business was not improving. In fact, I was slowly watching it go downhill.
I really wanted to wake up earlier, but I just didn’t know how to make the switch. I had worked on this schedule for decades and needed Divine intervention to help me change my habit.
So, I prayed. Earnestly. I petitioned the throne.
And the next morning, God dragged me out of bed at 5:56am. Yay! I was able to get more done earlier.
And I felt tired enough to crawl into bed around 9:30pm. I fell asleep by around 10:30pm.
But the most curious thing happened. I had a nightmare. I haven’t had a nightmare in about a decade. Actually, the only time I have nightmare is when Satan tries to invade my thoughts, but that’s for another blog post.
So, I had a bad dream. Actually a couple of them. Then, the next night after going to bed early, I had nightmares again. The series of bad dreams repeated itself for about a week.
The whole experience left me shaken up, so I shared my thoughts with my mom. This is what she said:
“Your body is not used to going to bed before midnight and it’s reacting to the change. Keep going to bed and waking up early. Very soon, your dreams will become pleasant again.”
Hmmm…my body was reacting negatively to the change and it was letting me know through my dreams (moms are so smart).
Whenever you’re making a change in your life, everything reacts negatively at first.
- If you start working out, your body will fight it.
- If you start taking medication, you’ll get worst before you get better.
- If you quit your job and follow your dreams, your friends and family will discourage you.
Change is scary, but keep going because anything worth having take time. And eventually, your body, your friends and your health will get better.
As for my dreams, I’m now dreaming pleasant stuff again. It took 2-weeks, but now, I’m tired around 9:30pm and up by 5:30am each morning. No more nightmares. My body is now at peace.
