I Stopped Watching the Sunrise at 71. That Was a Mistake.
I used to come down to the boat dock every morning to watch the sun come up. Not for the view. For the light.
Getting bright light in your eyes early sets your circadian rhythm — the internal clock that tells your body when to be awake and, more importantly, when to sleep. I'm convinced it was the reason I slept better back then.
Then Kathy and I started traveling. A lot. And somewhere in all that the habit quietly disappeared. I did not decide to stop. I just stopped, and did not notice for a long while.
That is the thing about habits nobody warns you about. You do something every single day, you break it for a couple of weeks, and then rebuilding it is almost as hard as starting from nothing.
So I am rebuilding it — but bigger this time. Instead of sitting on the dock, I am walking two miles every morning and catching the sunrise on the water partway through. Two miles done before eight o'clock, and the light in my eyes while I do it.
Maybe losing the old habit was useful. I would never have added the walk otherwise.
This is also the first of a new daily series. Every morning I am going to record whatever I am thinking about while I walk. I have been making content since 2004, when podcasting started, and I have never done anything like this. I will be rough at it for a while. I am doing it anyway.
If you want more of this, I post every day about longevity and health at 71 in my Facebook group. Come join us at garyleland.com/facebook.
Do you get out early and watch the sunrise? You should. I should not have stopped.
Everything I take is on my protocols page, what I do to stay strong is on my fitness page, and every blood number I publish is on my test and stats page.
Stay sovereign, stay healthy,
Gary
A note from Gary: I am not a doctor, and I am definitely not your doctor. I am a 71-year-old man running a 129-year experiment on himself in public. Talk to your physician before changing anything you take.
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