Defining Moments

Hubby tried to have a ‘negotiation’ with me last night.

“Can we change the radio to go off at 6am instead of 5:30am tomorrow?”

“Nope”. I said adamantly. “I can’t! I am too excited to stay in bed in the morning…anyway, I got this habit from you. I can’t change it back. I am enjoying it too much now!”

I inherited this habit from him when he decided to get up at 5:30 am so he could go to the gym in the morning. As you know, once one wakes up, the other can’t be unaffected. That’s why we both got up at the same time. He went to the gym and I went for my run followed by a pilates session.

Now things are slightly different for us. We are living in a different city and having different jobs. He hasn’t found a gym that’s nearby yet. While my working hours are the same as before, he starts at 9:30am and finishes late. As a result, he doesn’t seem to have a need to get up that early any more.

While he can still choose to get up early or sleep in, I certainly do not intend to change my routine in the morning. I simply can’t stay a minute more when the radio goes off. Sometimes I wake up before the radio goes off. That’s because my body clock has adjusted to it and knows naturally what should happen.

To me, there are so many benefits from an early start in the morning. The workout in the morning reenergizes me tremendously and defines the rest of the day undoubtedly. Confidence, strength, self-appreciation, discipline and most importantly, feeling good resulting from my morning workout carry out throughout the day. The benefit is very noticeable - I am alert, positive, productive, energetic and relaxed when I’ve done my morning workouts. To me, the moment when I defeat my resistance to leave the warm bed is a defining moment. Once I win this combat, the momentum carries on and I know I can win whatever combat that may come along during the day. That’s because if you have won a small battle, you will have built up confidence towards bigger battles.

I don’t believe that successful people are necessarily all brainy people or have extra luck than the rest. I believe instead, that successful people may simply have more defining moments in life which lead them to a higher horizon all the time. For example, moments to ponder and seek a solution when others complain; moments to take the challenge when others give up; moments to meditate when others watch TV sitcom and gossip; moments to say “no” to the unhealthy temptations when others throw themselves in; moments to be their own judges when other people worry about how others judge them; and moments to action when others talk aloud.

Life is full of defining moments. Don’t let moments of instinctive tendencies define you; rather, define what you can do about them.