Walkers with the Dawn

I’m working to build a habit of getting up early to train, which means slogging out of bed at 5:15 to gather together my gear and get to the gym. It’s only the first week, but so far it hasn’t felt like torture. Actually, I’ve noticed I’m sleeping much better. I’m not lasting until 1am, but since that wasn’t terribly healthy anyway, I’m not truly sorry.

For as much as I like being up late, I enjoy seeing the sun rise even better. I know. I can hear the sounds of your groaning and eye rolling all the way over here, but there’s something special about that time of day that has always simultaneously put me at peace and charged my spirit. It’s quiet and peaceful then. The world is, for the most part, still at rest, and there is a tangible sense of the coziness and comfort of people still asleep. There’s a special smell, too, if that’s what you can call it. It’s not a smell, exactly, but you notice it when you take a slow, deep breath if you stand outside. It’s fresh, and full of potential!

I woke up this morning and grabbed my backpack, put my shoes on, shrugged into a jacket. I got to the gym right at 5:45--plenty of time to get a workout in, except for one thing. Today is Saturday, and the gym doesn’t open until 7am. Given that I was already up, dressed and in the mindset to do something, I went for a long walk. I could have made it a power walk or really tried to break a sweat but, honestly, that didn’t feel right. Instead, I just walked. I breathed in that special early morning air and watched as the night gave way to dawn. By the time I got back home, I’d been walking for 45 minutes and felt like I’d accomplished something, even if it wasn’t a gym workout.

Being walkers with the dawn and morning,
Walkers with the sun and morning,
We are not afraid of night,
Nor days of gloom,
Nor darkness--
Being walkers with the sun and morning.

-- Langston Hughes


How's your day? I hope well!