The Early

I love being up early but I hate actually *getting* up early. My alarm went off at 0515 and I was feet-on-the-floor at 0517. I started this habit again back in May and was consistently getting up when my alarm went off for almost 3 months but I slacked off and started hitting snooze way too much. I’ve noticed that if I feel rushed in the morning I then feel rushed all day long. Today is day 2 of getting up when my alarm goes off and yesterday was very productive and I plan on the same happening today. I feel like my work woes are mostly caused by me not sticking to my established routines that I know make me feel grounded. An added benefit of waking up early is that I can go to bed earlier and fall asleep faster thus making this whole process that much easier.

I found the energy and made the time to go for a run yesterday evening, my first one in almost a week. It doesn’t sound like a long time but my body quickly gets out the exercise habit so this morning I’m feeling that run in my joints and back. I kept telling myself not to push too hard but once I’m in the groove it’s hard to stop. I really hate how good I feel after a run, I swore when I got out of the military I would never, ever run again but now that I’m dropping weight it’s been much easier and somewhat less painful.

Speaking of the military what’s happening in Afghanistan is an absolute shit-show. I fully support the withdrawal and it really should’ve been done a decade and a half ago but I’m devastated by what’s happening to the people who can’t get out of the taliban’s path. I never deployed to a combat zone but came very close once after I got off active duty. Some days I regret not transferring to a unit that was deploying and given my job in the military I would’ve been at a FOB or COP for sure. Anyway, that’s in the past and there’s nothing I can do about it. Worrying over the regret has never helped me so I’m not going to do it now. Was there a better way to withdraw? I don’t think so, tbh…When the army you’ve paid and trained for almost 20 years just walks away at the first sign of contact there’s really nothing to do. I do feel like the Afghans who helped us should’ve been moved long before the decision to withdraw was given a timeline. They and their families are going to pay a terrible price.

Talk Soon