Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Sometimes It's A Blessing To Be A Night Owl

I am most definitely a night owl.  I really don't think "early bird" is anywhere to be found in my DNA.  I was a night owl as far back as I can remember.  When in bed as a young kid, I read with flashlights until all batteries in the house were used up (Let's not think about the time that I used a battery-operated lamp under the covers, melted the plastic lampshade, and burned through the covers!) or I listened to late-night talk radio or radio shows with a little transister radio.  I convinced ALL of my babysitters to let me stay up past my bedtime and they let me stay up until my parents' car was heard in the driveway.

Fast forward to today~  a few many years later and I'm still up late every night!  But now I constantly struggle trying to turn myself into an early bird.  I feel like "good" wives and moms are early birds and are much more productive with their days.  So I keep on trying, and failing, and trying again.

But something happened earlier this week that made me happy to be a night owl!  A friend of mine (who is a big-time night owl herself) had a late-night need to use my computer to send an important e-mail.  She didn't know what else to do, but knew that I stayed up late too.  She called and asked if she could come over.  I was delighted to be able to help out!  It didn't matter that I had no makeup on at that point or that my house wasn't perfectly clean.  I was so glad to help a friend out and glad that she hadn't been afraid to call me and ask!

It made me stop and think - my night owl ways had been a blessing to my friend.  Are there other blessings to be found in my being a night owl?  I thought of a few...

~ I'm available for late-night phone calls and e-mails if anybody has an urgent need.
~ I sometimes connect with friends posting late at night on Twitter and FB that I can't connect with during the day.
~ I hang out and chat with my hubs who is also a night owl {both of us on the couch with our laptops}.  :)
~ I often blog and/or reply to comments late at night because I don't have time during the day.
~ I feel more able to gather my thoughts for what I need to do the next day.

Maybe instead of trying to completely change my ways, I can be just a little less night owl and just a little more early bird.  And maybe I can work on using my night owl time better to accomplish some of the things I feel like early birds always get done.

Are you a night owl or an early bird?  Have you tried to change from one to the other?  What blessings have you experienced because of being one or the other?

Have a terrific day friends!

9 comments:

  1. First of all, you had me as soon as I saw chocolate in your blog name. But I am a total night owl and I have felt convicted about waking earlier for my family and quiet time but to tell you the truth, I have a much more fruitful quiet time at night after the kids are asleep than in the morning when I'm tired and grumpy. I also write better at night so I have compromised by going to bed a little earlier and waking just a half hour before the kids. So far so good. I'm glad to find a kindred spirit, late at night.

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  2. I actually pretty adaptable depending on my hubby's schedule. BUT with that said, I lean towards the early bird side.
    Big it really doesn't matter what hours of the day you use as long as you use them productively size hugs to you!
    Love ya!

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  3. I can so relate to this post! I am a night owl, married to another night owl! For YEARS I have been hoping and trying to convert my ways, but have not succeeded on a regular basis. I am still trying, because I do not like feeling behind when I wake up later in the morning. I like to be the driving force of my day, not my children. I agree, though, there are some blessings in being a night owl. :-)

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  4. I'm totally a night owl too - always have been... even as a young child. Just this week one of my kids asked,"do you ever sleep?". Last night I picked up my teenage son after a late movie and when he told me he was hungry, I pan fried a few pounds of chicken tenderloins (they weren't all for him, but why not cook them all while I was at it). Went to bed at 3, got up at 8. This is my life.
    :)

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  5. Looks like I'm in some good company! :)

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    1. I'm replying to my own comment just to test out this reply function. :)

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  6. Oh, I am a night owl! See the time stamp on my comment? I do all my best blogging at night. And if I didn't stay up late, I wouldn't blog much!

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  7. I am a night owl too, but have tried to change, (and in some ways successfully) because the Lord has blessed me with an early rising husband and two early to rise kids. I go to bed around 10:30 and wake up between 6:30 and 7 and they all know not to start any conversations with me for at least an hour. :-)

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  8. By design, I'm a night owl. By sad, SAD circumstance, I have three little early birds {one little fan of sleeping in} that I must wake up before! Pass the COFFEE!

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I would love to hear your comments! Thank you for stopping and smelling the chocolates with me!! Currently disabled anonymous comments due to spam attempts - thanks for understanding!

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