The alarm clock goes off in the morning.

You want to get out of bed and start

your day. But you feel like hitting the snooze button and sleeping late. It's a
tug of war.

Beware: The Yetzer Hara makes all kinds of promises. "Sleep a little more.
Have a good meal. Relax." But it's an illusion. There's only one way to get
true pleasure out of this world: Toughen up. Keep fighting.

How do you strengthen your willpower? Take pleasure in fighting. Because

the harder you fight, the more reward you get. As the Sages say: "According
to the pain is the reward."

When engaging in any physical activity eating, sleeping, talking stop for a
moment and ask yourself: Why am I doing this? What's the goal? Am I using
it to dull reality, or will it energize me to accomplish higher things? Will it
bring me closer to God, or further away?

Ask yourself: Which part of me defines who I am? Am "I" my body? Am "I" my
hands? Am "I" my heart?

Since your soul is part of God Himself, it is always seeking greatness. So if

you're depressed, tired, etc., that's your body talking. It's not the real you.
Where is the body going? Into the ground with the worms.

But your soul? That's part of God. Use this realization to energize your body.
Don't identify with "I'm tired." Identify with "I'm destined for greatness."

Realize that whenever you choose the body over the soul, you pull yourself
down. How do you feel when you eat too much, sleep too late, or lose your
temper? Disgusted!

How do you feel when you identify with your soul? Uplifted. "I did the right
thing! I worked hard. I was responsible."

Identify with the Divine, and the world is yours.

Make the right choice. A conscious choice. Don't get lost in a bag of potato
chips.

This "siluk hakochot" (departure of faculties) only affects the conscious

dimensions of our psyche. But in the absence of the conscious, the
subconscious emerges. The more you sleep the more difficult it becomes to
wake up, your body shuts down. Your yetzar hara can make you spill, for 30
minutes more sleep you trade in your soul?

' '
.
If it will be distant from you the Place that Hashem your G-d has
chosen to place His Name there; and you will slaughter from your
cattle and your sheep that Hashem your G-d gave you, according to
His command, and you will eat in your gates according to the desire
of your soul. (Devarim 12:21)

This verse can be interpreted as a message regarding the importance of

waking up early in the morning to serve Hashem. Many tzaddikim have
written about the greatness one can achieve by waking up in the early hours
of the morning to learn Torah. In fact, although eating and sleeping are
considered to be earthly endeavors which often draw a person away from
Hashem, if a person overcomes his yetzer hara by waking up early, then
even the sleep that he does get and the food he eats become elevated. This
is because when he wakes up early, it is as if he slaughters his yetzer hara.
Normally, the body pulls a person down, but once a person overcomes his
evil inclination he gains the upper hand in his struggle to serve Hashem.
Therefore, even mundane things such as eating and sleeping do not pull him
down anymore. Instead, his neshama will elevate even such deeds.

This is the meaning of the verse: Sometimes a person feels distant from the
place that Hashem has chosen to place His Name there. He may feel as if
he is distanced from Hashem, and even his learning and davening do not
bring him closer. What should he do to improve the situation? You shall
sacrifice from your cattle and your sheep. The word bakar cattle, can
also be read boker morning, and the word tzon sheep, can also mean to
go out and leave behind (as in tzena urena). The verse can now be
understood to mean: You should slaughter the early-morning yetzer hara
that urges you to sleep in late. You should leave behind your earthly desire to
sleep longer. If you will do this, then you will eat in your gates according to
the desire of your soul. You will become so elevated that even when you will
eat you will be doing so in an elevated manner, for the sake of serving
Hashem with your soul. Even your mundane activities ill become acts of
serving Hashem.