Wake up little susie!

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“Kailangan kasi ang katawan sinasanay. Kung maaga ka nagigising, edi makakaiwas ka sa trapik. Kung uma-umaga eh alas-kwatro ang gising mo, alas singko nasa daan, mild lang ang trapik non. Wala kang rason ma-late. Dapat ganong lang, sanayan. Kahit walang pasok, magigising ka ng alas-kwatro, tingnan mo. Tapos maiisip mo na, ay Sabado pala, tulog pa ako. O diba ang sarap ‘non?”*

Words of wisdom from yet another cab driver. As usual, the city traffic was heavy and I went about my usual staring off into space mode. Then I remembered a line from the book I was reading last night, “Strangers are just family you have yet to know.” I’ll give this a try. After small talk with the driver about the terrible jam, I asked a question that’s a sure-fire way to have a conversation with any cab driver, “Saan po kayo naka-garahe?” (Where’s your taxi based?) And so we talked for the whole ride — well, he talked and I listened. And that quote up there was one of the things I learned from him. I felt a bit guilty because that is so true for me. I keep indulging myself with “5 more minutes” and I hit the snooze button again and again. I do get more sleep but I end up in heavier traffic. What a headache. And so his advice was very timely.

I will try to make getting up at 5 am part of my 21-day-habit-building activity.

* Translation: “Your body needs to get used to it. If you wake up early, you’ll avoid traffic. If you wake up everyday at 4 a.m., you’ll be on the road at 5 a.m. with only mild traffic. You won’t have any reason to be late. It’s a matter of habit. Even when there’s no work, you’ll find yourself waking up at 4 a.m., you’ll see! Then you’d think, oh it’s a Saturday, I’ll sleep some more. Isn’t that good?”

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