My Mornings Start at 3:45 AM

There’s a certain amount of pride being able to say that I wake up before retired Navy SEAL, Jocko Willink. In all seriousness, I forget that this blog started as my life updates, but then I remember that my most viewed post so far is when I went to the emergency room. Yeah, that was, uh…slightly intense. 

But to my genuine surprise, my lifestyle and my sporadic life updates are worth reading in your eyes and they are things that interest you. So, welcome to a current day in the life of yours truly, Kira Murillo. There is intention in absolutely everything I do so if I don’t mention it now, maybe this will give me an idea for a future post. Stay tuned. 

3:45 AM

When I used to wake up at 5 daily, I was called crazy so I can only imagine the words I would be called now. Consistency has outweighed many things in my mind, so every morning I set my alarm for 3:45 and I’m out of my bed at some point before 4 AM. The hardest decision I have to make is the decision to get out of my bed and begin my ten-minute ab workout and so I must do that every single day, mental toughness am I right? After that I’ll do my first workout between 4-5 AM. After my workout, I’ll spend some time stretching, brew some coffee, take my vitamins, re-fill my water and head upstairs to do some work. 

8:10 AM

Between 5-8:10 AM is my quiet and (mostly focused) work time. I am a big proponent of creating a consistent schedule before school begins. That way I am not trying to build and learn a schedule while also getting back into the routine of online learning. In the future, these three hours will be used to do some studying or homework. In the meantime, I’ve been using this time to write these posts, learn more about healthy living and fitness, specifically how to diet while having a healthy relationship with food, and putting in hours for my undergraduate research position at UW Medicine. It’s great. Nobody is up and there are minimal distractions.

During this time I fast and I only drink water and black coffee. I re-fill my coffee at least once during this time. Making coffee is this whole therapeutic process and it takes time. So as it’s brewing, I spend some time reading the Bible. I write on a sticky note: three things I’m praying for and three people I’m praying for. Coffee is brewed, sticky note is complete with chicken-scratch prayer requests, and I take both upstairs and continue working for the duration of the three hours. 

9:10 AM

I work for three hours, four days a week. It is an entertaining gig to facilitate three young elementary school boys with their online learning. Every single day I learn more about Minecraft. Apparently there is a Minecraft heaven and hell. Who would’ve thought? Anyway, before I head to work, I’ll finally eat my first meal of the day. The reason for not eating until 8:45-9:10 AM is so I can still have a normal eating schedule and not be starving for dinner at 3 PM. Fasting is not the most enjoyable thing but being able to delay gratification is a much needed skill. One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control, you know this, Christians. Self-control in one area helps with self-control in other areas; I find it extremely useful. 

12:45 PM

Once I get home, I eat lunch and sometimes I try to watch or re-watch a sermon during that timeframe. I’ll recommend Highlands Community Church, my home church and The Jordan, a young-adults church based in California. Key word is “try” as I’ll admit it’s easier to use that time to scroll indefinitely on Instagram. I am the absolute last thing close to perfect. Lunch usually consists of my infamous tuna & jam toast. All I’m saying is don’t knock it until you try it. The key is to lather the raspberry jam, absolutely delicious.

4:30 PM

The second workout of my day begins somewhere in the 4:30-5:30 time range. As with the morning, the hours between lunch and workout #2 will eventually be used for school and studying. Currently, I use it to further write, further research, but more often than not, I use it to read. As I sit here, I stare at the current book I’m reading, The Catcher in the Rye. I hear people hate it, I think the protagonist is hilarious. Thanks to Jami and my friend, Riley, I’ve been more inspired to read lately. I read like crazy in the summer but the books I choose are often practical, simple and challenge my way of life and thinking rather than my reading comprehension. Both semesters in my sophomore year of my high school English class, I think I got a C. So I’d strongly argue with great confidence that I am an atrocious reader. Don’t ask me to analyze a passage, I can barely follow the plot on a good day. You think I’m kidding, ask Jami. She asked me to start over when I was reading The Great Gatsby, good book by the way, but six pages in and I thought it was written in Gatsby’s perspective. It’s not. 

And as I realized, I shouldn’t just avoid the things I’m bad at and prosper in the things I’m phenomenal at. I’m sure you as a reader wouldn’t mind a more diverse vocabulary, so we shall see how my writing progresses as I continue to read classic literature. Feel free to give me reading recommendations. 

My second workout is always running or some form of cardio. This is the workout that I want to be exhausted from once I’m done. The goal is to make it last at least an entire hour. I’ve only run five miles once and even then it still did not take the entire hour so what I end up doing is some variation of push-ups and planks for fifteen minutes and then walking for the rest of the hour. Don’t tell anyone this, but I really enjoy running now. I used to hate it and swore that cardio was from the devil, but now I like it. Having more of a “runner’s body” fits my frame anyway, so it works. 

 

7 PM

I run, I shower, I eat. After dinner, I try to be more intentional about spending time with my family or maybe catching up with a friend, but the goal is to be more self-less from after dinner until I decide to go to bed. And even when school begins, I hope it doesn’t change. Occasionally this means turning on Netflix and finding which musical to watch next with the family. Other times Lucy shows me videos on TikTok, oh how she knows my humor so well. Recently, because all of my siblings have been powering through their first quarter of online school, this means I get to help with homework. I try to at least start getting ready for bed after 9 PM. Sticking to a schedule is definitely one of my strengths, but I intentionally am more flexible with the 9 PM bedtime. Lack of sleep is not my favorite thing, but it is really important to me that I make time for family and friends. I think it’s natural to fill the schedule completely, but in my opinion what good does it do to be the “most productive” person on the planet but lose your relationships, including your relationship with Jesus?

Family time, time for friends, it’s an important aspect of my day. Of course, I’m not going to be perfect at it. In fact, I basically went straight to bed after dinner last night…There will be days where school takes more time, there will be days where I’m dog-tired and need my alone time, there will be days where I selfishly choose Netflix over time with my family and friends. But out of all the things that happen in my day, I want to be intentional about setting that time aside. That’s my day, I then throw whatever I’m working out in on and head to bed, my morning starts at 3:45 after all.

REMAINING THOUGHTS…

I share this schedule with you not to brag about myself, because if anything, God gets all the glory anyway, He’s the one that made me wonderfully. I write this to you because I find my schedule entertaining and more importantly, I write this for accountability purposes. I write this so I can look back at this post and see if I’m doing a good job. It’s less about waking up before 4 AM, squeezing in two workouts, and always being perfectly consistent, but it is important that I am consistent in keeping healthy relationships. I am reminded of a section in the Bible:

“⁷ I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun. ⁸ This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing. ⁹ Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. ¹⁰ If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. ¹¹ Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? ¹² A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:7-12

I have found it natural to forget about everyone you don’t live with during this pandemic. I have found it natural to toss Jesus and my daily Bible studies to the curb when things at school get busy, but what good is it if I’m the most productive person in the world if I’m a lazy sister, friend, daughter of Christ etc.? These are the honest thoughts that keep me up at night, after all. I know I’m a lunatic as 3:45 is quite the early start time, but I enjoy it. I hope you found this schedule entertaining. Thanks for reading and in case you didn’t know it, you’re loved by the way. I leave you with these verses to ponder both my Christian and non-Christian friends. They have nothing to do with my absurd schedule, but consider them anyway.

1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.² He existed in the beginning with God.³ God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. ⁴ The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” John 1:1-5