I woke up at dark o’thirty

My mind was racing after a vivid dream

Which was rapidly fading from my memory

It must have been a bad dream

Because my mind forbid me to go back to sleep

Lest I revisit the same dream

I dragged my reluctant body out of bed

Made a cup of tea and stepped outside

The morning air felt fresh and cool

Hardly a sound emerging from the blackness

The birds were all sleeping

Hot tea woke up my body

There was no going back to bed now

Sunrise was more than an hour away

This was to be my solitude time

A period of self reflection and a quick debate

What should I do with this gifted hour

I rejected the temptation to go on line

The virtual world would survive another hour without me

Likewise the TV news was shunned

I decided to set myself some goals for the day

Prioritize what must get done by when

It was easy to shake hands in that deal

The next goals were harder to agree on

Things I wished to achieve over the coming months and years

The longer the timeframe the harder it was to commit

Plenty of excuses were lining up for not achieving them  

I waited for them all to say their piece

Then I gave them a stiff lecture on their bad attitude

They mostly slunk away in dejection 

Apart from one persistent excuse who refused to leave

He had a smug look on his face

His point was blunt and brutal

How do you know you will be well enough or even alive to finish those long term goals?

I looked him straight in the eye and told him

I am the captain of this ship and if she goes down

Then you go down with her too

I thanked him for strengthening my resolve and dismissed him

He walked away and turned to me with a smile

Good luck captain he said

I called down to the engine room with the command

Full steam ahead!