Saturday, February 15, 2014

Life After Peace Corps - Early Rise



Early Rise

I do not remember since when I started on rising very early in the morning, sometimes, I am up by 4am, and find myself hard to go back to sleep.  My body reacts to the natural light ever more.  Before the sun appears to the horizon, I am fully awake, anxious to get up to start the day.   Like those boisterous little creatures outside my balcony, I begin to move around restlessly, have my tea or coffee, practice yoga, take a shower, cook a nutritious breakfast, pack my lunch, dress for work, and by 7:30am, I am ready to leave for the office.  I perform each task with ease, no need to rush given that I have ample time to carry out each individual chore.  

Even in the weekend, I do not skip those routines; instead I deliberately take my time to do each task with precision.  I scrupulously make my hardboiled egg just the right texture, with a runny yolk and perfectly cooked egg white.  I exercise yoga more laboriously, enjoy the relaxation from an empty, aimless floating mind, as a result, a weeklong pressure from work slips away.  After a deliciously bath, look at the mirror and happy to see what the exercise has done to my body.  After that, I have a whole day to walk around my neighborhood, visit a friend, follow the four mile run river to its source, pick some wild flowers home, shop at the market for some fresh fruits and vegetables, return home and prepare a hearty meal.  Soon, the sun sets, and the day is over.  

The only drawback of this early rise is, when the moon emerges from the East, my body reacts to it as well.  By 10:00pm, my eyelids turn so heavy that I have to lie down.  Before long, the screen of my TV becomes a blur; I no longer can concentrate on the program.  Crawling to my bed, within a minute, I fall into a dream of happiness.  If someone has a camera, it will definitely capture the contentment of my face.  

Perhaps I have becoming a cave man, or a cave woman, rise when there is light, find a shelter to hide when darkness is upon me.  After all, what is the point of creating an artificial light, exert myself in an unnatural environment and perform tasks that are totally unnecessary.    

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