I would have loved to have banned words in my house. Hate was one of them. It was a word that just was not acceptable to me. Just the absolutism, concreteness, and finality of that word bothers me. Closed minded and strict. I really hate the word hate.

And so hate hasn't played a role really in my life, or in my vocabulary. But there is one thing I hate. And that is waking up to an alarm clock. It's disturbing. It’s alarming. I mean, who even came up with the idea, not to mention the name? It’s about as pleasant as hearing the dentist drill yet this is how many of us choose to wake up.

What is the definition of alarm? Alarm suggests fright, fear, chaos, confusion, and looming catastrophe. Well that's a great way to start the day, isn't it?

I hate waking up to an alarm clock. So I renamed it. It's a fortuity clock. The alarm clock goes off every day; it's a fortuity clock. And in many ways, that's my first moment of victory or failure in the day. It's the first moment of freedom or slavery, you know? Because how often do I just slap the snooze button? I just had my first failure of the day.

But every morning that fortuity clock goes off, I have another day. I have another day—and there's a lot of people who don't. So when that fortuity clock goes off each morning, I want to bound out of bed, ready to go out into the world to love, to give, to serve, and to spread contagious joy. How much better do I feel when I have provided just a little joy to someone else?

It feels pretty great waking up before anyone else and having that me time. I use that time to work out, read, write, pray/meditate or maybe even get a chore or two done before the day begins. It really makes a difference in my day. A difference in the better. Don’t check your phone. Don’t look at the news or a newspaper. Go outside and greet your day. What blessing can you be to someone today? It’s a great feeling of having another day for that opportunity or any opportunity that arises.

I now embrace my fortuity clock. It took years but it is better late than never. I hope you never, ever, wake up to an alarm clock again.