Morning People

I got up at 5:30 this morning to hustle. The reasons are found here, but those aren’t really important right now.

What is important is that since I’ve done it once, I’m clearly qualified to make sweeping generalizations. Get over it.

As I set my alarm last night I had this picture in my mind of what life at 5:30 am looked like.
It was dark and barren. All the traffic lights in town would just be flashing yellow. The only other person that would be up is the guy making the donuts. It would be whisper quiet. And maybe a tumbleweed would be blowing down 350 South. In Indiana.

I might not have been completely correct.

I seriously had no clue that there was light at 5:30 pm. Who knew I wouldn’t need my headband with the flashlight on it? Not this girl. Seriously? Does the sun not ever take a rest? It’s still a little light out when I go to bed at night and it’s light at 5:30? Obviously the sun doesn’t know its really a star. Show off.

Also, lots of other people are up at 5:30. Not only are they up, they are out in public. Even more mind blowing is that they are happy about it And not the weirdo kind of people. Well, I’m sure 5:30 am has it’s share of creepers but normal people are up at that insane hour of the day, too.

I got to the gym just before 6 am to find that there were people there. Lots of people. And some people were leaving as I was getting there meaning they got up even earlier. What the what?

The guy at the check in desk? Super happy to be alive and overly excited that I was there.

The lady in the locker room when I was putting my bag up? Whistling a happy little tune like whistling was her job. Seriously. It might have been. She was heller good.

The guy on the treadmill by me in his jean shorts and cut off shirt? Happier than a roll bar in a demolition derby.

Then there was this older lady. I have no idea what her name was but Im guessing it was Flo. Or Virginia. And she goes by Ginny. Or Peggy or Penny and Franny. It could of also been Beverly. It’s not really that important.

What you need to know is this lady had the joy of The Lord in her heart. And in her feet. And in her hands. But mostly in her hips. There is this circuit training thing smack dab in the middle of the gym. It’s sort of like workout in the round. There isn’t anyplace in the gym where you can be and not see this area.

You know the circuit drill. There is cardio in the middle of the circle and in this case it’s steps with machines around the outside. There is also the huge stoplight. It stays green for 1 minute while you are doing a particular activity, then turns red for 30 seconds while you move on to the next station. Most people use that 30 seconds to get a drink or take a breath. Not this lady.

That’s not Flo’s steaze. Instead during the 30 second “break” this lady got down. And not like a little heal step or bob of the head. I’m talking a full fledged, balls to the wall cupid shuffle. And not even to the Cupid Shuffle music. Instead she’s doing it to Sheryl Crow’s “Soak Up The Sun”. And maybe a Maroon Five song.

That doesn’t happen when I go to the gym at 6:00 pm. And on the off chance that it does, it’s probably cause the person is drunk. No one smiles while on the treadmill after a long day of work. No one is happy that you are there in the evening. To tell the truth, they couldn’t care less.

I’m not a psychologist and by no stretch of the imagination am I an expert, but maybe there is magic in 5:30 am. And not magic in the actual number, but magic in the “first fruits” of your day. Maybe it really is that we can’t do it all and that we give our best efforts to the things that we do early.

Maybe at 7 pm Flo isn’t shufflin’. Maybe she’s tired and worn out and finding comfort in a plastic slipcovered easy chair waiting for her Wheel Watchers number to pop up.

I dunno. I guess I will have to wait and see but be careful, I just might turn into a morning person.