What Gets You Up in the Morning?

Let me begin with a disclaimer.  Part of this is going to be a "do as I say, not as I do" type of thing.  Let's just say that I don't get enough sleep  and we'll return to that in a moment.

Probably the number one thing that gets me up in the morning is my dad's heart attack at age 45.  Let me explain. 

I was 5 when my dad had that first heart attack.  Soon after, he had to retire from his job and basically do nothing (heart care in those days).  I grew up determined not to follow that same path.  As a result, exercise and eating right have been a part of my lifestyle since a very young age.  Maybe it's why I went into healthcare.

So every morning when my alarm goes up and I might be tempted to hit the snooze button (for the record, I have no idea where the snooze button is on my alarm clock), I might think of my dad and the totally sedentary life he had to lead because of his heart and I pop right up and head in for a workout.

Oh, there are other reasons.  I love my job.  When that alarm goes off, I hop up excited about the possibility of what the day might bring and what problems the next patient might bring me to fix.

When that stops getting me all pumped, I'll retire.  (So all of you that see the bonfire on the birthday cake that belongs to me, I ain't quittin' any time soon.)  Think about it--I walk into an exam room for a new patient that I know nothing about, decide what is wrong and what needs to be done, then start them on the road to better health.

I've got a buddy that long ago retired but gets up way before dawn to get his exercise in.  He finds that if he does it then, he's got the whole day to do anything he wants.

Others I know get up because people are depending on them to be there.  My wife gets up because of responsibilities. 

I've always done my exercising early.  It removes most of the excuses.  If I had to depend on lunch hour or after work to get in my workout, it probably wouldn't happen.   So when my alarm clock goes off at 4 AM (yes, 4 AM), I head to the gym. 

My personal philosophy is that those earliest of hours belong to me.  Even when my kids were growing up, that was my schedule.  I could get my exercise in and still be there when they woke up. 

Back to that sleeping thing:  I know that 7-8 hours is the best for good health.  I don't get that.  Just because I don't get it doesn't mean that you shouldn't--you should!   Evidence of the need for adequate sleep is overwhelming.

So what's my excuse?   I don't know...it's complicated.  I have a problem in saying "no" so I'm always over-committed.  Part of it is the bicycle.  It's my favorite form of exercise but it takes a lot of time. 

And my patients are either in pain or dysfunction or both and I have a really hard time turning anyone away.  So my schedule is always packed.  There are many nights when I'm up late doing patient notes.

Anyway, that's my story.  What gets you up in the morning?