I used to nag at my grandsons to get up off the sofa and get some kind of action going.

There isn’t much activity happening by sitting on the sofa.

Of course there is reading, watching TV, playing on the laptop or portable video game device. However, there is a world outside the house when the weather is great like it has been recently.

Sitting on a couch or in a recliner seems to waste the day away unless you are in pain, incapacitated or just plain old and tired. I suppose there are some acceptable excuses. I just don’t want to give up on being active. However, when it’s dark outside or cold and rainy, a good book is pretty good medicine.

To me, sitting on the sofa when there are other activities to enjoy is like sleeping in on a Saturday or Sunday morning. I just can’t do it.

Those of us early risers see much more of the day, that’s for sure. When it’s a cold wet weekend, I can force myself to stay in bed a bit longer, but for only so long if I’m truly awake. If you’re sick, stay in bed. Otherwise, moving around is good for the soul. Besides, it does get the blood circulating.

My grandson cannot relate to this phenomenon. He says he is not a morning person. I love to hear the birds singing in the morning and the crickets chirping at night, but some people sleep through it all claiming they don’t need to hear birds and crickets. When my grandson was up early one morning, he actually commented on birds singing while pigging out on bird seed in the feeder. A whole flock had congregated in the back yard tree. “See,” I said. “You would have missed that sleeping in.”

Some folks are crabby in the morning. Apparently they rise on the wrong side of the bed and it takes a while to become civilized.

I want my breakfast early on weekends, at least by 8 a.m. But those late birds don’t care when they get up and have their bacon and eggs or cold cereal or a breakfast granola bar. Not cold cereal! No way. I want bacon and eggs on the weekends. I can get by with a cup of coffee during the weekday mornings, but on the weekends – well, those are special days.

When I was growing up, in our home it was expected of us kids to get up early whether it was a school day or not. We had to have a legitimate reason for staying in bed too long. More importantly, if there are animals in the family, well they count on us. They usually will let us know if we are late feeding them. Yes, the animals are creatures of habit, too.

There are some exceptions to the notion of rising early. Some people work late shifts and it is impossible to get up early in the morning. I personally would hate to be tied to that type of routine. But, somebody’s got to do it. Worse than late shifts are those rotation shifts. Those would do me in before I even got started. I admire people who can adjust to working days, then swing, then night shifts simultaneously year after year. It’s amazing. But some careers require that.

However, sitting on the sofa because of boredom, is a pretty lame excuse, I tell my grandson. How can a person be that bored at such a young age?

But, once I get him out on the bike trails, he always says he’s glad we got up early and headed out of the house. I guess that’s the whole point, having a plan of action for the day.

Don’t get me wrong, there are times to sit on the sofa and contemplate things. Those are the times I like to spend a little time thinking about all the projects that need to be done around the place. It’s a good time to make a shopping list. Plan the evening meal. There are those times we need to relax and just think, you know.

I can only sit and think so long, though. If a plan doesn’t present itself within a half hour, I get pretty restless sitting in one spot.

In fact, it was a good thing I had a book with me a short time ago when I was called to jury duty. I would have gone bonkers just sitting and waiting. So, there is a time and a place for everything. It’s just knowing when and what, why and how before you dive in and attack the day. There’s one thing for sure, sitting and contemplating nothing all day definitely doesn’t get the job done.