Up in the crack of dawn

From Hávamál

He must rise betimes who fain of another

or life or wealth would win

scare falls they prey to sleeping wolves,

or to slumberers victory in strife[i]

You are so careful about things, so properly, so disciplined, so ...

I have experienced that some people working in the health care system do not regard this as good qualities, and more than one asked me like this: Do you suffer from “good girl syndrome"?

No!

 I am self-disciplined. If I for example put work out, or have to complete a writing job, on the agenda then I will do it. I can trust myself. Self-discipline comes from within, I want it. There is no one who says 'you should do it'. That is something else.

 During periods in life, with illness and fatigue, I was unable to trust myself. Tomorrow was uncertain. It was almost too much for me to read a page or two during the day, send an e-mail or maybe go for a walk.

But I used self-discipline to train perhaps the most important of all: The Mind. The most important tool for me is meditation. And through training I have, step by step, recognized that all I can control, are my thoughts.

 So no, I do NOT suffer from “good girl syndrome”. I am disciplined, to get the most out of the day, even in tough times with illness. As uncle Melker in the book “Sea Crow Island” puts it: This day, one life.

I do it for myself.

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Hávamál is part of the Edda poems, old god and heroic poems from Norse times. Scholars argue about what Edda means, but many believe it simply means great-grandmother.

It were the settlers, the first to come to Iceland, who brought with them this oral storytelling tradition. Later the verses were written down on calfskin.

Hávamál consists of one hundred and sixty-four verses. Norse wisdom preserved for posterity.

It's just to supply oneself!

[i] Translated by Olive Bray