Now that the hatchlings are on their summer holidays, our house is a little less frenetic in the mornings. I’m the only ‘child’ Fionnuala has to usher out of the nest, so there is (slightly) less screaming, shouting and general pandemonium. It’s chaos but organised chaos for Mrs Black runs a finely oiled domestic machine, despite my frequent best efforts to throw a spanner in the works.
We now don’t have to get up quite so early and there are less bodies jockeying for access to the bathroom. School uniforms don’t have to be ironed or lunches prepared. There are no school bags to be hurdled on the floor or notes to be written to Mr. Thingy or Mrs What’s Her Face. One thing hasn’t changed though. I still wake up hungry. Useless to all and sundry until I visit the toaster.
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day and who am I to argue. Like most people, I’m a bit grouchy when my stomach is empty. Normally I consume a cheeky banana while waiting for the bread to pop up, a golden brown vision, all ready for buttering and consumption. After that all is well with the world, until mid morning anyway when the next refuelling is required.
Hobbits had the right idea. No self respecting Baggins or Took would set a large, hairy foot out of their hobbit holes until they had partaken of several breakfasts. It does exactly what it says on the tin, breaking your fast from the day before. Without it, the tank is empty and seizing days is frankly out of the question. These ‘I don’t do breakfast’ types leave me baffled. I simply couldn’t function without food first thing.
I appreciate we are all different but if I were a visitor at your house and you offered me a solitary cup of coffee the following morning, I’m afraid you would get a strange look or seven. At weekends Fionnuala has accused me of refusing to surface until I hear the sound of sausages sizzling and their aroma wafting up the stairs. This, of course, is an outrageous allegation which I vehemently deny. Ahem….
We all need something to get out of bed for in the morning. It can be sizzling sausages or a variety of more serious motivating factors. It can be family, friends, work or all three rolled into one big satisfying ball. But there needs to be an accelerant to fire our engines and coerce us into throwing back the bedcovers no matter how daunting a proposition that might seem. We only have so many revolutions on this earth.
We must use them wisely, squeezing every last drop of value from each one. Depression and anxiety often materialise as a lethargy to face life and the myriad of challenges it presents. Their victims choose to opt out, to stay in bed and hide away from the big, bad world. The hunger is gone, the inner spark which propels us up and out the door every morning. Hunger has many negative connotations but when it comes to living, we all need to hear our bellies growl now and again.
I’m writing this from bed. All is quiet, the alarm clock is yet to sound and herald another day of ‘adulting.’ Well, I say quiet, but Woody Woodpecker is already gently tapping at my stomach, suggesting I get up and raid the kitchen cupboards. His incessant nudges will only increase in frequency and force unless I slither from under the sheets soon. I’m hungry for another crack at life. Are you?
What’s your favourite breakfast?
What makes you get out of bed in the morning?
Black Thoughts 
I’m with you 110% on this one. I cannot function until I’ve had my morning cereals. (Indeed, I’ve just had them now before answering this rather excellent post of yours). 🙂
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I hope you enjoyed them 😂
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Sunshine. To watch it spread is the nicest motivation for me in the morning.
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Nice image. Thank you 😊
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I think I’m in year three or four of a toasted english muffin with almond butter and jelly being my first of many AM fuelings. Of course there is coffee before, during, and after this delicious combination of protein and carbohydrates wrapped in a delicate crunch. I’m one of those crazy ‘exercise in the early morning’ people and this seems to give me energy without gastric distress.
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Sounds like an energy packed start to the day. Good for you 🙂
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My cat refusing to shut up gets me up in the morning.
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We have a dog like that 🙄
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Must have my cup of coffee first! Recently it’s been toast and fried egg for breakfast.
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Very nutritious. I’m not a coffee drinker though 🙂
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I like your comment about being hungry for life! Its a wonderful description of Living Fully. But I don’t “choose to opt out”; depression, like diabetes, means my body’s chemistry is out of balance. My zest for life is there, its that I feel I haven’t the stamina or capacity to meet it. Like wanting an apple but having no teeth, it can he done but takes longer and more creativity to do something others take for granted.
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I hope the spark returns soon. It’s tough but I believe you can get there.
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Really enjoyed this read! I’d love to get up to the smell of sausages or even bacon sizzling in the skillet yes! Instead….speaking of frenetic; what gets me out of bed is laying there past the “its time to get up or you’ll be late” after hitting snooze for the 4th time… I jump up outta bed and start running around like Mr. Bean!
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Ha Ha. Sounds like me too 😂
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My favourite breakfast is eggs on toast! I love granola too! Or weetabix! I am late to bed and early to rise! I dont sleep much!
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I know you don’t lol. I like them all apart from weetabix.
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Stephen, I’m pregnant. If I don’t feed the woodpecker in MY belly, I’m not likely to see the outside of a bathroom.
…oh, right- the metaphor… Most days, it’s the (out of the belly and living) children who motivate me. The house. The bills. Writing as well.
I love breakfast. I’d be right there with you once the sausages were done cooking.
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You’re giving birth to a woodpecker. That’s quite the accomplishment Chelsea.
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So far it seems more parasitic, but I was trying to run with your analogy there.
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Like Sigourney Weaver in Alien?
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Exactly.
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I must admit my stomach is only capable of coffee for the first couple of hours each morning. Then anything is up for grabs! My absolute favorite is more a memory than a reality.
When I was young I used to spend summers on my Uncle’s ranch in south Texas. He contracted with an oil company to check the pump stations scattered around the ranch, in addition to his ranching duties. We’d get out of the house by 430 each morning to check the pumps on one side of the property, eat breakfast, and check the other side so we could then resume chores.
Breakfast time was always 6:15 AM. While we were out, my Aunt would make breakfast; a real country breakfast fit for a whole crew and not just three people. There were fresh eggs from the henhouse, bacon and sausage from the pig slaughtered earlier in the summer, stacks of pancakes, and homemade thick steaming biscuits with a huge bowl of sausage gravy. Milk came from the cow out back and Aunt Fern always made her own butter. I think the only thing that came from the store in town was the orange juice Uncle Carl always insisted on.
I’m now extremely hungry thinking about it. I’ll probably settle for a bowl of oatmeal and blueberries, but the images and memories your post this morning invoked will last me all day. Thanks Stephen!
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Wow. What an amazing memory. If I ate all that at 6:15 I’m afraid I would have to go back to bed 😂
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I craved for well buttered toast today but ended up having a bowl of porridge because I forgot to take some slices of bread to work
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Doh. Maybe tomorrow 😊
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I love the way you write….. Of how you so effortlessly blend the beautiful facts with delicious mornings. It makes me think of the greatest magician, Albus Dumbledore.
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Two dippy eggs and toast for me!
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I cut the toast into soldiers to dip in the egg 😊
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Bacon and eggs, the more the better.
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My kinda guy 😊
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I will eat steel cut oats year round if allowed, or avacado toast or freanch toast (ah-mazing when made with banana bread!) Just give me my caffiene and fuel and I’ll start functioning. Why do I get up? Cats, hubby, bladder, rememering a task to do…. Sleep never lasts as long as I like.
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Certainly not. The bladder issue increasingly so as we all get older 😂
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I like your words. I sound so American.
What gets me up in the morning? Sunshine, a morning appointment, thinking of something I want to do. I am munching on cantaloupe in between typing sentences, and because I am a grazer in my eating habits, I don’t wake up hungry very often. Yet, when my husband leaves without breakfast, I tell him it’s better for him to eat a little something.
I discovered corn grits when traveling in the South. Hominy grits from a pancake house, but I buy bright yellow corn grits and make them when I have a yen for them. Lately, it’s been bagels with a light coating of fake butter because our store has been selling them buy one bagful of six and get one free.
Thoughts to ponder in your blog as well.
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Thank you Constance. I’m getting hungry now reading your response 😊
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Really good read. My favourite breakfast it’s probably pancakes with melted chocolate!
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Thank you. Enjoy your breakfast today 🙂
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Loved the post 😂 beautifully written
I love the quiet and peace of early mornings and that is enough for me to leave my bed.
I love fruits in the morning ( you may like to read my post : Am a Happy Fruitarian) and have tea and something ( we have many things better than toast in India) after my meditation at around 10! I also take toast and egg with tea at times. I love the cup of tea (coffee is not my cup of tea😂) at this time of the day.
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Thank you very much. I’ve never been to India.
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Pleasure
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I’m one of those unusuals. My body has never reacted well to Breakfast. Growing up, it was forced upon me, and every morning be it the bus stop, the bus, or just barely making it inside the school doors, I was sick. Part of my adulting was figuring out why I was sick every single morning of my life. Once I realized I can’t eat until Lunch, all was well. I spring from bed like a jack in the box, embrace my coffee, and avoid solid food like it’s the plague! Medically it’s linked to a serious heart condition that according to medical science should have ended my life TEN YEARS AGO, but I don’t really claim that. Because my heart rate is so high when sleeping, my stomach is pure acid when I wake and it takes a while for all that to settle down. So yeah, I guess I’m the odd one of the bunch it seems 😉
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I get up at 5 a.m. so while I absolutely need to eat breakfast I’m not capable of preparing anything that requires actual thought and coordination until I’ve had at least one cup of tea. There is something divine about well-browned and lavishly buttered toast, but I confess that my favorite breakfast these days is leftover pizza. It’s not fancy, but it requires minimal preparation and tastes good. Bonus: In order to have leftover pizza for breakfast, one must eat pizza for dinner the night before.
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Yes, cold pizza is a winner. I used to eat cold Chinese takeaway the next morning. With a hangover. Not such a winner 😂
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Scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy. I’m a southern boy through and through. 🙂
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It doesn’t get much more southern than that 😂
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To get any more southern I’d have to throw I some bacon – which I don’t eat.
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😇
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