A Love/Hate Relationship

I am currently in a love/hate relationship.

With morning.

I'd like to tell you that I took this picture of a beautiful sunRISE off of Oahu. 
But, let's be honest- it was a sunSET.

I hate getting up in the morning.  I hate my alarm clock.  I hate the back-up alarm set on my phone.  I hate the rumbling of trucks driving by my windows that steal five minutes of my sleep.  I am terrible at getting up in the morning, because I am a night owl.  It does not matter how tired I am, I can always find one-more-thing-to-do before bed, which whittles away at my sleep until I become a walking zombie when the sun comes up.

Because (at least my weekdays) I have a flexible work schedule this year, and I know how my mornings go, I have intentionally scheduled things in the morning so that I don't waste my day.  I go to the earliest Mass offered.  I opt for earlier appointments when possible.  I gave up my snooze button for Lent (epic fail there).  I am trying...but I don't seem to be changing my attitude.

I mean, Scripture says, "weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning."  I should love the morning, greet the new day, rejoice in the new opportunities, right?

Right.

So one day this week, I found that I needed to be somewhere early.  I decided to get up even earlier so that I could still get done the things that I needed to do before going on with the plan for the day.  I was going to offer it up for Lent as a pittance towards my snooze-button-fail.

But it turns out that what I intended as a sacrifice turned out to be a great encouragement (funny how that works).

I enjoyed watching the sun rise (albeit through my windshield).
I savored the alone time singing to the radio before the rush of the day.
I loved hearing the ring of the church bells calling worshipers to a (very) early Mass.
I soaked in the quiet of the prayer.
I liked sitting down to breakfast. My coffee even tasted better.
I was satisfied to check things off the to-do list at a time of day that I am normally still in bed.
And I still had a whole day in front of me.

So, honestly, I find that I love morning.  I can think of many special moments over the years that all happened only because I forced myself out of bed at an (by my definition) unreasonable hour.

Love or hate, all of the day is a gift from God, meant to savor and appreciate.

And I was glad to have a reminder that the morning is included in that.

Anyone have any advice for greeting the morning with joy?