20140409.0626

I hate the snooze button

It is a deceptive little thing
A press of a small thing that permits a bit more sleep
Except that that sleep is not so restful
Being in a short dose
Of which some is taken getting back to sleep
Or of which most is spent staring at the clock
Waiting for the alarm to come again

It makes a little thing
Of wasting time
Staying abed while awake
Or only partly asleep
(If any of us can be said to actually be awake
Ever)
Tending to idleness and indolence
When there is work to be done

It allows for too much laziness
Too much laxity in discipline
Of which there is not enough
And I do not exempt myself from it
Simply look at what I write and it will be obvious

If we are going to go to the trouble
Of waking with alarms
Because we must
Because the natural rhythms and cycles
Do not suffice for what we have made for ourselves
Then we might as well get on with it
Accept the alarm when it first rings
And rise to be about our days
If we are not going to do so
If we are going to take the easy way out
Then it makes no sense to set the alarm

It is simply a way to pretend we have rigor
Without actually needing to have it
One way of the too many