A beautiful relationship.

I don't like waking up to an alarm, because I don't like being jolted awake. So normally I don't wake up to an alarm because I can trust myself to wake up at a reasonable hour without help, but sometimes I have to get up earlier than usual, or at least have to make sure I'm awake by six instead of by six thirty. I set my alarm on those days, just in case, but even then I almost never hear it go off. This is because I have a remarkable talent. I can always ("always" meaning approximately 95% of the time) wake up before my alarm goes off, no matter what time I set it for.

You might not be impressed yet. After all, I think most people have had the experience of having to get up earlier than usual for a very important reason like leaving on a road trip or taking a 7am final. You set your alarm, and then your mind is so worked up about making sure you really do manage to drag yourself out of bed on time, and you are so worried about missing your alarm and thereby missing your ride or your test or whatever it is that is forcing you out of bed at that ungodly hour, that you find yourself waking up at two, and then three, and then three-thirty, and so on until you are wide awake when your alarm finally does go off. But although I have done this before, that's not what I'm talking about. My talent is much more refined. Somehow I have managed to synchronize my body clock with my alarm clock so nicely that I will wake up within minutes of my alarm. And always minutes before, not after. Lately I've gotten so good that I generally find myself rolling over and looking at the clock within just one minute - if I set my alarm for 6:00, I wake up at 5:59, and if I set my alarm for 5:45 I will wake up at 5:44.

Since I rarely set my alarm at all, this actually doesn't happen all that often. But I actually think this makes my talent more impressive still because it means I'm able to perform the feat with minimal practice. And since I never actually consciously chose to develop this talent, I am still amazed each and every time it happens. Yesterday was my best yet. I had a lot to do before my nine o'clock class, and wanted to get a run in on top of it, which meant I had to get over to the gym right when it opened at six. I had stayed up just a little on the late side that night and knew that if I let myself just sleep I almost certainly wouldn't wake up on time. So I set my alarm for 5:45. Then I climbed into bed and slept quite well for several hours before popping awake and rolling over to look at my clock.

Five forty-four, I thought. Amazing. And I reached over and turned off my alarm and just as I clicked the little switch, the display changed to 5:45. Ten seconds. That's got to be my record. I think my body clock is pushing it's luck just a little bit. After all, an extra thirty seconds of sleep of sleep probably isn't worth the risk of hearing my alarm. Nevertheless, I am rather proud of myself.