14 February - What the World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love

Success. I got right up with the alarm this morning but I really struggled staying awake for that first 45 minutes. I was working on a Bible study and then writing and my words kept trailing off on the end.

I don't know why some mornings it is harder to stay awake. I was up until 11 last night, but I felt okay. I even read in bed for about 10 minutes before my eyelids starting dragging, and at that point I put the book down and went to sleep. Robbie woke up a couple of times, including a feeding at 2 a.m., and those interruptions plus just the physical stress of still coughing and being congested is making me need more sleep than usual. 5 to 6 hours, normally, is sufficient for most nights.

One note on trying to get up early. In the past when I've tried to be consistent, I would calculate a reasonable bedtime to allow myself time to get the amount of sleep I thought I needed. It never worked well. I have a difficult time making bedtime consistent and every time I could not get to bed "on time" I got frustrated and worryed that I would not get enough sleep, would not be able to get up in the morning. Sure enough, I never felt like I got enough sleep and often wasn't "able" to get up in the morning.

A couple of months ago I read this post by Steve Pavlina about becoming an early riser. He maintains that the best approach for waking up early is to go to bed when you are sleepy (whatever time that happens to be) and get up with your alarm at a consistent time every morning. This concept of simply going to bed when you're sleepy - without worrying about the time or hours of sleep you'll get - has helped me so much in getting up early. Previously I was really trying to establish two difficult habits at one time: getting up early and getting to bed at the same time every night despite social obligations, kids, and a night-owl husband.

If you're wanting to start getting up early, I recommend that you read through that article and try the approach in a monthly challenge, 7 days a week. The other weak point in my previous "get-up-early" attempts was allowing myself to take days off. Days off simply throw more inconsistency into the mix and confuse you physically and mentally. Consistency is vital in establishing a habit.

I need to be more consistent in my life. Getting up early is one way I'm working on developing consistency. Forcing myself to be consistent in that one area is showing me many other areas in which consistency is badly needed.

Webster's 1828 Dictionary defines consistency as "a standing together... agreement or harmony of all parts of a complex thing... congruity; uniformity." Uniformity is "continued or unvaried sameness or likeness."

Uniformity of action, behavior, thought, and words is the expression of integrity (wholeness, entireness; moral soundness, purity, uprightness, incorruptness) within. Proverbs 14:2 says that 'he who walks in his uprightness (integrity) fears the Lord, but he who is crooked in his way despises Him.'

Being crooked in one's way is an apt description of lack of integrity (inner) and consistency (outer). It's hard to be trustworthy when your words are crooked. It's difficult to achieve goals when your daily work is crooked. Being crooked is self-defeating; it turns you aside from being complete, being fulfilled, and keeps you from accomplishing anything of value.

Consistent action is the antidote to crooked ways. It is easier to slide through the day in reaction to what happens; crookedness results. But building up one habit at a time of consistent behavior keeps that crooked sliding from being the rule of life. Strive for uniformity in thought and word, consistency in action and behavior, and integrity in heart and purpose.