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Good Morning East Tennessee!

Do you have a morning routine?

Do you look forward to your day ahead or do you dread it and hit the snooze button 15 times?

A lot of people say they're just not "morning people," but no matter when you get up, new research is suggesting that it's important to get out of bed fast, create some time for yourself and get your day's events planned and organized.

Doctors have suggested for many year that it's important to do some kind of calming ritual in the morning. Whether it's cuddling with your kids, listening to music, or meditating, how could anyone disagree that it's the perfect time for healing the wounds of yesterday.

If you try to see your day as a brand new start or an adventure where yesterday is forever gone and no one is really sure of what's ahead, it can add a little excitement to your world and make the rest of your day go much better.

The first thing I see when I open my eyes is my dog, Jack, just sitting there staring at me. I don't know why, but he loves to watch me sleep. When I get out of bed Jack goes back to sleep as I stumble into the kitchen to make coffee. While the coffee is brewing, I light a cigarette (yes, I heard they were bad for me), stop in the bathroom, and head to the office. In the warmer months I skip the office to drink my coffee on the patio and watch the neighbors head to work. Once I'm at the computer I check my email, check the website stats and then check the local news. If nothing is going on there, I'll check the state news. If nothing is happening there, I check the national and world news.

From there I start writing and will usually be juggling anywhere from 5 to 30 articles. Some days I'll get 2 finished and 10 new projects will come in. Other days I'll get 10 finished and only 2 new projects will come in. As long as I'm getting something completed I feel like I'm winning; therefore, I'll usually start off writing "Rising With the Daily Sun." Being it doesn't usually take a lot of research, pictures, or traveling I can always get it finished which builds momentum for the day ahead.

After an hour Jack wanders in the office at which time he and I are both ready to be fed and walked. After that anything can happen. The phone starts ringing, new ideas start coming, appointments are set, and my morning routine is officially over.

It's important to establish a daily morning ritual and to make the ritual personal and pleasant so that it doesn't become an obligation. Eventually it will be a habit. If it's a burden, you'll find yourself dreading your entire day or pushing the snooze button 15 times.

Published January 22, 2011