I AM A morning person.
I am cheerful most mornings.
I greet people on the street, I nod at them, I call out, Good morning.
And I realized, most Filipinos wake up miserable.
Or at least, not as cheerful as I am early in the morning.
***
These days, I wake up with the sun.
I set my alarm for the sunrise.
But I would always wake up five minutes before my alarm sounds.
I get up anyway, even when it is raining.
I go to my sunrise watching place, prepare my iPhone to shoot the changing sky.
***
I smile the moment I wake up.
Just a habit to thank God for another day.
That starts my daily prayer, an internal dialogue with God.
The sunrise affirms my prayers and faith in something greater than myself.
All sunrises are beautiful, even the no-sun sunrise during storms and heavy rains.
***
On my running days, I run with joy in my heart.
I like being seen running.
I like the thought of being admired for being physically fit at 53.
I try to smile, and wave, and nod, and greet people that I see along the way.
Running is fun, but being seen running is a different joy.
I really feel good when people recognize me on the street, and greet me.
***
On my more relaxed days, I walk around the plaza to get to my favorite coffee shop.
Sometimes, I meet my people, my coffee buddies.
Sometimes, I coffee alone.
But just the same, I enjoy my coffee time.
***
When having coffee with company, I affirm people.
I listen to gossip, give my solicited opinion, and just provide humor.
So many people do not have great humor in the morning.
How can you find humor in the stupidity of elected officials?
How can you find humor in the stupid things that they do which add burden to the already stupid and suffering poor?
***
I try to make people laugh, make everything light because, well, I can.
I have a brilliant mind that can always find funny spins for even the most tragic of things.
Most people want to make miserable things even more miserable by complaining.
I understand their need to verbalize.
If it makes their morning better, I am there to support them.
***
I walk some more before I settle down for the morning.
But settle down for what?
I do not have a job.
I do not report to duty.
I can have coffee from 6:30 to 10:30 in the morning.
And when I do that, I can make at least ten people laugh before noon.
***
Good mornings for me mean coffee, music, books, coffee mates, iPhone photos, soc med posts, a few thousand steps on my pedometer.
Occasionally, a hearty breakfast.
In our town, there are breakfast places like tapsilogan.
Even the turo-turo restaurants have fried eggs, tocino, longganiza, fried bangus, laswa, fried rice.
***
At around 9 a.m., even the lunch places are already open.
I can have caldereta, sinigang na kambing, estofado na pato, adobado na alimusan, and other pork, chicken, beef, and vegetable dishes.
I have no problem brunching alone.
The food servers are always attentive to me.
They know my preferences, and they always have a seat for me.
***
I seldom go inside the church these days.
But I always pass by at least three churches: the Roman Catholic, the Aglipayan or Philippine Independent Church, and the Baptist Church.
Church buildings always help me pray in my heart: the short Our Father, and some mantras for world peace and salvation of humankind.
***
A few things can piss me off in the morning.
Like young people who aren’t looking where they are going.
I like hitting them with my elbows.
I like the sound of their pained “Ouch!”
And it’s really a great morning when I can shout at them, “Look where you are going!”
***
Otherwise, when people are attentive, and they stop to say, “Good morning, Sir Peter!”, I greet them back and wish them to have a good day.
It takes very little to have a good morning in this country.
And it all boils down to a happy, healthy attitude./PN
