Mornings, I Love You—Now.

I am very slowly evolving into a morning person.

I didn’t always like mornings—at all.

Ins and outs

I can pinpoint the moment I realized that maybe I was missing out by sleeping in.

The shift in my attitude about early mornings changed in the early 2000s when I was forced to go out. I was running weekly with a friend who was a running coach of sorts. He’d pick me up very early on Saturday mornings and we’d run anywhere from six to eighteen kilometers. I always got up and I always went. And although I never really enjoyed running I always had a sense of accomplishment (probably from the endorphins).

Running became a bit of an addiction. I completed a half marathon. A month later I went to Crete, Greece, with a friend. The first morning there I woke before her (probably out of habit), slipped into shorts, a tank top, and my runners. Outside, the sun was still below the horizon. I had time to put in a few kilometers before it came up to cook everything in sight.

Speaking of sight

I briskly walked out of the curvy narrow streets of Chania’s old town to the waterfront. My breath was caught by what I saw. The horizon glowed an encouraging orange and pink stripe. The sky high above still had a star or two. To my right was the Turkish bathhouse (now a museum) and across was the lighthouse. Men sat fishing, chatting quietly in their chairs on the sea wall. It was as perfect as a perfect morning on a Greek island could be—because I witnessed it. I would never have seen this early morning experience of Chania Crete before I became a runner.

I considered what I may be missing by sleeping in. With that in mind, I began encouraging myself to wake up and take in the morning with a better attitude—a more positive start to the day, humming instead of grumbling.

I am grateful for this transition. I am grateful for the quiet unfurling of day. I am grateful for mornings. I don’t sleep in much anymore–not compared to when I was younger and this is a change I love and appreciate.

Not just mornings

Now I love all the times of day: midday with bright direct light; early evening with her long shadows; evening, night time with her selective showing. All are beautiful in their own way.

**^{The photos were provided by my cousin who was recently in Chania Crete. I appreciate her for giving me permission. Although they are not from the crack of dawn they still give a sense of the place. She is admittedly not a morning person.}