Alarm clock woes

GETTING up in the mornings had always been a great burden for me. I definitely am not a morning person (which means I can only count with my fingers the sunrises I have seen) and I have to literally drag myself out of bed everyday, courtesy of a small time-keeping device called 'alarm clock' whose sole purpose is to ruin a good start of my day.

This small but powerful device would wake me up at 8:30 in the morning with a loud and continuous "ringgggggg". With my eyes still half shut, I would grope for the alarm clock on the bedside table and fumble for the knobs, resetting it to 8:45 before snuggling between the sheets again. All too soon, the shrill ringing would wake me up again, and the same thing happens.

I would reset the alarm clock to 9:00, and put it as far away from my bed as possible but it seems that before I could count a hundred, there it goes ringing again with a tone so annoying I have no alternative but to force myself to stand up with eyes still closed and shut the thing off.

To be honest, I hate my alarm clock. Not only does its jarring sound wake me up out of a deep wonderful sleep every weekday morning, but every time it rings, I am always convinced that I had just fallen asleep.

I'm sure I'm not the only one in the world who has to hit the snooze button of the alarm clock several times before I can get out of bed. Time and again in the past, I had obeyed the obnoxious ringing of the alarm clock to meet an early appointment and had committed the mistake of sitting down on the sofa and drifting off to dreamland again.

I can't remember how many times I had the strong urge to smash the alarm clock or throw it across the room when it goes off, but I was always able to hold myself because I know it also helps me, and I also know doing so would mean a pain in my pocket because I know I have to buy a replacement.

You might be wondering why on earth do I need to be awakened by an alarm clock at 9 o'clock in the morning when the sun is already high in the sky and everybody is up and about but bedtime for me is when the world starts to get up to face the day.

I have tried many ways of tricking myself into waking up in the mornings but it always fails. I've also tried getting another alarm clock and setting it up to go off within 5 minutes of each other but still, nothing seemed to work.

Finally, I've decided that my alarm clock and I have to part ways because everyday, we're engaged in a battle of wills and it seemed that not one of us is willing to give in to the other.

So one day, without much ceremony, I exiled my alarm clock to the kitchen cabinet and tasked my cellphone to take over. I usually put my cellphone under my pillow so that when the vibrating alert wakes me up, I can turn simply press any key and turn over to sleep some more, assured that in ten minutes it will again vibrate to wake me up, until a full hour has passed. More often, I usually fall back to sleep and wake up with the 5th or 6th snooze alarm at around 9:15. Panic mode begins and morning wackiness ensues.

That became a routine until somebody decided to slash my shoulder bag one day and took off with my cellphone.

But let's face it, whether we like it or not, morning is going to come. And that means that there's going to come a time to get up and get ready for work, with or without an alarm clock, so will yourself to wake up.

I've discovered that finding a reason to get out of bed is more effective than gathering all the alarm clocks in the world and setting them to go off at the same time in your bedside.

It took me sometime to discover meaning in life to find a reason to get out of bed, and look at each day as a whole new world filled with countless opportunities.

I have acquired a new cellphone a few months after, and although I still set the alarm, it's become so much easier to get up in the mornings as I've conditioned myself to think that each day is a gift to explore the wonderful world around us.