The Lost Art of Waking Up: a Pictorial

Somewhere along the line, we forget how to wake up refreshed and renewed. And instead we awaken like this:

 Correction: we wake up like that after hitting Snooze repeatedly:

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Finally, we lumber up and stumble on in search of clothes and keys and everything we'll need--the most important of which we will always forget.

So, no matter what we wear...no matter what we don't forget...the message we send to the world will be this:

Okay, then. Let's take these as givens:

--Good diet

--Good health

---6-8 hours' sleep every night

If so, why would we need Snooze alarms? I have a theory about this. I don't claim that it's profound but it's been tested--and it works:

Our mindset when we go to bed determines our state in the morning. For better or worse, we continue where we left off the night before. And we'll continue for the worse if we retire in a negative or aimless state, I propose a three step plan to ensure that we wake for the better.

1) Eat lightly after 6 p.m.. Your last meal doesn't have to be what you see in the picture above. But keep it light, something easily digested.

2) That's right, meditate--in any position you like: sitting in a cozy chair or thinking while you stretch. Your meditation can be a review of the day: what went well or might have gone better. Review your blessings while you're at it. A positive 15-minute spiritual stretch will prepare you for a deeper and more restful sleep.

3) This is my own master key: a Kenneth Cole standing valet. My solution to maddening mornings spent looking for my keys, deciding what to wear and learning when I've left home that I've forgotten something. After my spiritual stretch, I set myself up for the morning--everything I'll need, from clothes to keys to change to my wallet, etc. I go to bed in a decisive state as well as a positive, calm one.

The process is a simple one. Whether you use it or one of your own, be true to it and you'll enjoy wht you've missed for far too long: