Sunrise vs. Sunset

So it's been a while since I've typed up a decent entry on the internet lately...okay, so it's been a very long time since I typed up a decent entry. However, I never really had anything interesting to really talk about until the battle between dawn and dusk.

Well, it's around 5:30 am on a Sunday morning as I type this post, and I've been thinking about sunrises and sunsets. The sun will rise in approximately one hour from now here in the beautiful city of Vancouver, WA--which most people tend to overlook. The sun will set at around 8pm tonight.

So enough with the background information; it's time to get down to the point. My opinion on this sunrise and sunset issue would be that I think sunrises are better than sunsets. Why, you may ask? Well that's what this entry is about.

People are affected mainly on 4 levels: physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. Of course with all of them overlapping with each other many times. Anyhow, I believe that sunrises have an advantage on all four levels, though of course, I could very well argue for the other side of this matter, but that's not the point. So lets start with possibly the most controvercial of them all, spiritually.

A person's spirituality is probably just a mix of his emotional and psychological states, but it is a seperate battleground by itself. Now, how do sunrises relate to the spiritual realm? Well, the sun provides light in this world, and in most cases, light represents a good thing. With the sun rising, it gives the person hope in the spiritual sense that the sun is still here for at least one more day and that at least the sun hasn't quit on them. Sunsets, on the other hand, represent the sun going away and leaving the person in the darkness with only the small stars and the moon to dimly light up the world. That makes a person's spiritual battle harder to not have light on his or her side for a few hours. The hope that this light provides can make all the difference in a person's life.

Now, emotionally, light usually brings people to be happier. With the sun rising and all, and the start of a brand new day and that you're still alive, it can make a person feel all giddy inside...well, only if you weren't overly depressed and wished you would never wake up again to another day. But that's not the norm and probably why being overly depressed is a disease and being overly happy isn't. Like I mentioned before, emotions and the spiritual world overlap, and it clearly overlaps here. Viewing a sunset can be a very peaceful experience, just going outside, and staring up towards the eastern sky and just in a state of peace. Sure sunsets can be romantic and all, but when viewing sunsets alone, it can be quite meloncholy and slightly depressing at times. Viewing sunrises just has this peaceful nature around it that can be experienced with others or by yourself.

Anyone can stay up and view the sunset, I mean, the sun sets way before anyone ever goes to sleep, so it doesn't take that much effort to view a sunset. Sunrises, on the other hand, takes a lot of will power to wake up before almost everyone else does and go outside (or stand from a window if you have a good view) to just watch the sun rise up from beyond the horizon. This provides the psychological viewpoint of being able to conquer something that people usually don't do. It's something that a person can say and be proud of it. "I woke up early to watch the sun rise." I mean, doesn't that just sound a lot more accomplished than "I stayed up at my normal and looked outside around dinner time to watch the sun set." Nothing special. But sunrises just give you that psychological edge of accomplishment that you were able to wake up early and conquer your slumbering mind.

Now how in the world can waking up early help you physically? The body needs sleep right? And sleep will help restore our energy right? Though all that may be true, waking up early has its advantages. Since most of the people don't do it, you can have some quiet time to yourself and do some devotions if you are religious, or just simply have some reading time. But you can also go outside, put on some sweats if it's cold, and just go for a light morning jog. This jog will basically wake up the rest of your body and actually make you more energized for the day that's yet to come. The brain will be sharper earlier and can allow for faster thinking throughout the day rather than trying to play catch up because it still is trying to sleep for a few more hours. And after the jog, you can eat a big heart-healthy breakfast rather than on-the-go type of junk food that does more harm than good. Everyone knows that a good breakfast is the key to a good day. So waking up early will also give you time to really enjoy your breakfast while reading the morning paper or whatever it is that people do when eating breakfast. I just tend to finish up some homework...heh heh.

Anyhow, it's 6:20 am and I should start fixing up myself some breakfast and go outside for a jog. Those were my brief points of why I think sunrises are better than sunsets. I only had less than an hour to type this, so sorry for any typos and the short choppy reasons with hardly any support behind it. Have a good day ya'll!